i'~n«w«wwwu 


1*p 

Su/ord  llpsfyeatyed 

or  flj?e 

Bibl^  for  tlft  /l\a$5es 

J.  M.  PHILLIPPI 


tibvavy  of  Che  ^theological  ^eminarp 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

Rufus  H.    LeFevre 

•  5.PS5 


The  Sword  Unsheathe* 

OR 

The  Bible  for  the  Masses 


21  1952 


iCAL 


J.  M.  PHILLIPPI 


Editor 
The  Religious  Telescope 


Dayton,  Ohio 
The  Otterbein  Press 

IQII 


United  Brethren  Publishing  House 

W.  R.Funk,  Agent 

1911 


FOREWORD 

THE  first  three  addresses  in  this  volume 
were  given  before  the  Ministerial  Asso- 
ciation of  Southeast  Ohio  Conference  of 
the  Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ 
at  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  June  28,  29, 1911.  Their 
very  cordial  reception  is  responsible  in  part 
for  their  appearance  in  permanent  form. 
The  fourth  address  is  added  that  an  important 
phase  of  the  subject  might  receive  due  notice. 

This  session  of  the  Ministerial  Association 
of  Southeast  Ohio  Conference  was  a  grateful 
recognition  of  the  blessings  of  three  hundred 
years  of  the  English  Bible.  All  the  interest 
centered  in  the  Word  of  God,  and  in  its  dis- 
tribution to  the  masses.  The  open  Bible 
and  the  uplifted  cross  were  the  parallel  needs 
set  forth,  in  harmony  with  the  expressed  con- 
viction of  many  similar  assemblies  which  are 
at  least  partly  celebrational  of  the  greatest 
gift  to  the  English-speaking  people. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  Bible  was  the 
first  book  ever  printed  from  type.  It  con- 
tinues to  lead  the  way  in  all  material  progress, 
as  well  as  that  which  is  spiritual.  If  the 
following  pages  shall  increase  the  general  use 
of  the  Scriptures,  or  inspire  reverence  for 
the  sacred  Book  of  Christianity,  and  thus 
lead  to  the  acknowledgement  of  Jesus  Christ 
as  personal  Savior,  and  God  himself  as  loving 
Father,  the  desire  of  the  writer  will  have 
been    accomplished. — J.  M.  P. 


Contents 

I.  Growth  of  the  English  Bible  .  7 

II.  The  Bible  and  Education  .  49 

III.  The  Bible  and  Spirituality  .  85 

IV.  The  Bible  and  Character  .  Ill 


Growth  of  the  English  Bible 

ANY  modern  growth  must  root  in  the 
past.  The  English  Bible  cannot  stand 
on  its  own  foundation  any  more  than 
the  shingles  for  a  house  can  grow  in  their 
present  form.  The  Hebrew  Old  Testament 
came  to  its  present  proportions  through  a 
period  of  more  than  a  thousand  years;  but  the 
Hebrew  became  a  dead  language  before  the 
birth  of  Christ. 

In  order  to  give  different  nations  the  Bible 
in  their  own  languages,  translations  were 
made.  Thus  the  Septuagint  was  prepared  in 
North  Africa  by  somebody  at  some  time  for 
the  use  of  Grecian  and  Egyptian  Jews.  Syn- 
chronizing with  it  are  the  earliest  Chaldee 
versions  for  those  dwelling  in  Palestine  and 
Babylonia.  The  early  Christians  adopted  the 
Septuagint,  which  had  a  few  Greek  rivals  for 
supremacy ;  but  they  failed  to  win  approval, 


8  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

and  almost  all  now  are  lost.  In  the  second 
century  after  Christ,  the  Syriac  version  was 
made  for  the  Syrian  Christians,  and  a  Latin 
translation  of  the  Septuagint  was  prepared 
for  the  people  of  Rome.  In  the  fourth  cen- 
tury this  was  superseded  by  the  immortal 
work  of  Jerome,  called  the  Vulgate,  after  the 
Latin  word  "vulgus,"  meaning  "common." 
It  was  to  be  a  common  Bible  for  all  people. 
The  seventh  century  brought  the  Arabic  ver- 
sion, the  Jews  translating  from  the  old  He- 
brew, the  Christians  from  the  work  of  the 
Seventy.  Besides  these  versions,  which  are 
regarded  as  chief,  there  were  various  trans- 
lations into  different  tongues.  The  New 
Testament  needed  no  early  translation  be- 
cause it  was  written  in  Greek,  the  language 
generally  understood. 

These  versions  are  to  the  English  Bible 
what  the  foundation  of  a  house  is  to  the  super- 
structure, or  what  the  soil  is  to  the  tree. 
The  original  Hebrew,  the  Septuagint,  the  Vul- 
gate, and  some  French  translations  served 
the  English  scholars  the  best,  though  no  one 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  9 

is  to  despise  the  German  translation  of  Martin 
Luther,  which  still  is  regarded  as  a  great 
German  classic. 

Before  the  "morning  star  of  the  Reforma- 
tion" attracted  wide  attention,  there  were 
other  stars.  The  night  was  darkest  because 
the  morning  star  had  not  appeared  above  the 
horizon.  To  Csedmon,  a  Benedictine  monk, 
who  died  in  680,  belongs  the  honor  of  the 
first  English  translation  of  any  part  of  the 
Bible.  An  ode  composed  by  him  in  praise  of 
the  Creator  is  the  earliest  specimen  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  metrical  verse  extant.  Another  and 
longer  poem  treats  on  the  creation  and  fall 
of  man.  This  is  scriptural  paraphrase  rather 
than  faithful  translation.  It  was  the  first 
ray  of  light  from  the  stars.  About  700,  the 
Psalms  appeared  in  Anglo-Saxon  from  the 
pens  of  Aldhelm  and  Guthlac,  working  inde- 
pendently. 

The  Venerable  Bede,  who  died  in  735, 
besides  writing  an  ecclesiastical  history  of 
the  English  nation,  translated  a  part  of  the 
Bible.     Although  contracting  pulmonary  dis- 


10  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

ease  through  hard  study,  he  worked  on  and 
on  until  the  last  day.  Dictating  the  Gospel  of 
John  to  his  amanuensis,  and  feeling  that  the 
end  was  near,  he  asked  the  scribe  how  many 
chapters  remained.  "Only  one,"  he  replied, 
"but  you  are  too  weak  to  dictate."  "No," 
said  Bede,  "take  your  pen  and  write  quickly." 
Soon  the  scribe  said,  "Master,  it  is  finished," 
using  the  Latin,  "Consummatum  est."  "Thou 
hast  said  truly,  'Consummatum  est';  it  is  fin- 
ished," referring  to  his  earthly  life  rather  than 
to  the  completion  of  his  work.  As  if  in  bene- 
diction upon  biblical  translation  which  in  the 
future  should  need  the  blessing  and  protection 
of  the  Lord,  the  dying  man  began  to  chant 
the  Gloria,  "Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the 
Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost."  One  of  his 
students,  in  marked  appropriateness,  says  that 
as  he  reached  the  words,  "the  Holy  Spirit," 
that  Spirit  bore  him  away  to  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  whose  praise  he  had  been  chanting. 

The  next  Bible  translator  was  that  stanch 
defender  of  the  faith,  Alfred  the  Great,  who 
prefixed  a  paraphrase  of  the  Ten  Command- 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  11 

ments  to  all  the  laws  he  issued.  Freeman 
gives  a  picture  of  his  character  in  the  follow- 
ing words,  making  him  a  fit  man  to  hand  the 
Bible  to  his  subjects:  "He  was  a  saint  without 
superstition,  a  scholar  without  ostentation, 
a  warrior  all  of  whose  wars  were  fought  in 
defense  of  his  country,  a  conqueror  whose 
hands  were  never  stained  by  cruelty,  a  prince 
never  cast  down  by  adversity,  never  lifted  up 
to  insolence  in  the  day  of  triumph."  Alfred 
was  engaged  in  making  a  version  of  the 
Psalms  when  he  died  in  901. 

It  is  noted  that  these  different  men  either 
were  translating  verse  or  composing  in  verse. 
It  was  the  natural  response  of  unfettered  souls 
to  the  influence  of  the  Almighty.  Rhythm  is 
native  in  man,  and  it  marks  the  outpourings 
of  the  human  soul  when  God  has  his  way. 

Between  these  stars  of  the  midnight  and  the 
morning  star,  herald  of  the  dawn,  there  was 
a  period  of  darkness.  The  sky  was  clouded 
over,  storms  threatened,  lightnings  flashed,  and 
thunders  rolled. 


12  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

John  Wyckliffe  is  called  the  "morning  star 
of  the  Reformation."  One  must  arise  early 
to  see  the  morning  star  in  all  its  glory.  As 
herald  of  the  king  of  day,  which  Martin 
Luther  might  be  called,  Wyckliffe  is  a  com- 
manding figure. 

Every  man  must  be  measured  in  connection 
with  a  study  of  the  times  in  which  he  lives. 
As  the  character  of  Peter  the  Hermit  can  be 
appreciated  only  after  discovering  the  condi- 
tion of  Palestine  under  the  blight  of  Turkish 
rule,  and  that  of  George  Washington  only 
after  knowing  of  the  birth  throes  of  American 
freedom,  so  Wyckliffe  can  be  estimated  aright 
only  with  knowledge  of  the  political  situation 
and  the  tendencies  of  his  times.  Indeed,  the 
Bible  which  he  prepared  never  would  have 
been  translated  except  for  the  ecclesiastical 
and  national  movements  and  purposes. 

Wyckliffe  was  born  about  1324.  Papacy 
was  trying  to  keep  its  heel  on  developing" 
nationality  and  personality.  Spain  and  France 
and  England  had  begun  to  feel  national 
strength  and  long  for  political  independence. 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  13 

True  to  its  age-long  purpose  and  practice,  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  was  holding  on  to 
temporal  power  and  enjoying  the  temporal  re- 
ward. Friars  were  false  to  their  trust,  monks 
became  spies  more  than  spiritual  messengers, 
worship  degenerated  into  a  form  and  purpose 
to  defraud,  and  feasting  and  merry-making 
beguiled  the  time  of  the  spiritual  overseers. 
Under  the  slavery  of  superstition,  in  which  the 
Catholic  Church  has  held  its  adherents  when- 
ever and  wherever  possible,  the  Latin  monks 
were  supported  by  oppressive  tribute  levied 
on  countries  dominated  from  the  Tiber. 

The  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  was  the 
greatest  weapon  in  the  hands  of  the  priests. 
The  lowest  men  were  exalted  to  church  posi- 
tions and  controlled  the  consciences  of  the 
most  enlightened.  The  Pope  decreed  what 
was  good  and  what  evil,  but  gave  men  liberty 
to  do  the  bad  for  suitable  reward,  and  ex- 
cused from  doing  good  for  remuneration. 
In  brief,  the  pope  had  taken  the  place  of 
God  Almighty  and  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  was 
able  so  to  do  because  the  Bible  was  in  the 


14  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

hands  of  the  clergy,  but  not  in  common  cir- 
culation among  the  laity. 

The  soul  of  Wyckliffe  was  vexed  because 
he  saw  the  individual  man's  way  to  God 
hedged  up  by  Pope  and  clergy  and  saints.  It 
was  restive  under  the  papal  denial  of  national 
and  individual  liberty.  It  rebelled  at  the  super- 
stitious views  of  the  Lord's  supper  which  en- 
slaved the  people.  With  difficulty  it  brooked 
the  begging  of  mendicant  orders  for  the  indul- 
gence of  immoral  and  lazy  priests.  It  saw  the 
solution  of  these  problems  in  a  popular  Bible. 

At  this  time  the  language  of  the  pulpit  was 
French,  with  a  mingling  of  monkish  Latin, 
which  many  of  the  clergy  understood  as  little 
as  the  people.  Neither  the  Norman  French 
Bible  nor  the  Vulgate  of  Jerome  was  of  any 
use  to  the  masses.  Chaucer  was  contempo- 
raneous with  Wyckliffe,  which  shows  that  the 
English  language  was  finding  a  permanent 
setting  throughout  the  country.  When  the 
clergy  interpreted  the  Scriptures  to  suit  their 
own  greed,  made  and  unmade  religious  prin- 
ciples and  laws  as  selfishness  suggested,  and 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  15 

the  people,  deprived  of  the  Scriptures,  had 
no  recourse,  a  righteous  soul  which  saw  the 
hypocrisy  and  tyranny  on  the  one  hand,  the 
superstition  and  servitude  on  the  other,  could 
but  determine  to  change  conditions. 

The  purpose  to  bring  about  this  change 
made  Wyckliffe  the  morning  star,  the  John 
the  Baptist,  of  the  Teutonic  Reformation, 
which  set  all  western  Europe  free.  Except  as 
kings  truckled  to  popes  for  favors,  Wyckliffe 
had  the  support  of  the  nobility  when  espous- 
ing the  rights  of  the  personal  conscience ;  but, 
when  he  attacked  the  doctrine  of  transubstan- 
tiation,  the  nobles  misunderstood  and  failed 
to  follow.  A  dauntless  will  determined  to  put 
the  Bible  in  the  hands  of  all,  and  thus  teach 
them  that  salvation  is  by  personal  faith  in  a 
personal  Savior,  rather  than  dependent  upon 
the  caprice  of  a  self-appointed  vicegerent  of 
the  Almighty.  He  purposed  to  give  the  people 
truth  for  falsehood,  liberty  for  slavery,  mo- 
rality for  immorality,  independence  for  de- 
pendence both  in  thought  and  action.  Did  he 
succeed  ? 


16  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

Wyckliffe,  though  of  Oxford  University, 
was  not  a  thorough  Hebrew  and  Greek  scholar. 
Using  these  sources  but  little,  his  translation 
was  made  from  the  Latin  Vulgate  and  the 
Norman-French  Bible  then  in  use.  Starting 
with  the  Apochrypha,  he  had  the  New  Testa- 
ment completed  by  1381.  Death  followed  a 
paralytic  stroke  in  1384,  before  the  Old  Testa- 
ment was  finished.  But  there  were  two  kin- 
dred souls,  Nicholas  de  Hereford  and  John 
Purvey,  whom  the  Lord  honored  with  the  priv- 
ilege of  completing  the  unfinished  task. 

The  art  of  printing  had  not  yet  been  in- 
vented. All  the  Bibles  made  had  to  be  writ- 
ten by  hand — manuscript  versions  and  copies. 
These  were  the  ones  distributed  all  over 
England  for  the  next  century.  The  Scrip- 
tures were  circulated  and  explained  by  what 
were  known  as  "poor  priests,"  the  adjective 
reflecting  light  upon  the  general  condition  of 
other  priests.  They  were  called  Lollards  by 
others.  As  a  semi-monastic  order  the  Lol- 
lards came  into  notice  about  the  year  1300 
at  Antwerp,  finding  a  sphere  of  work  in  caring 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  17 

for  the  sick  and  the  dead.  They  were  Wyck- 
liffe's  stanch  supporters  when  alive,  and  after 
his  death,  helped  his  influence  to  survive. 
Their  duty  as  colporters  was  foreshadowed 
by  the  peculiar  name  of  John  Purvey — a  pur- 
veyor, in  truth,  of  the  truth. 

No  people  can  be  kept  in  slavery  long,  or 
long  subject  to  an  ecclesiastical  tyranny,  if  the 
Bible  is  in  their  hands  and  inspiring  their 
thought.  It  works  thus  universally.  Nehe- 
miah  and  his  readers  gave  the  great  congre- 
gation the  Bible  and  helped  all  to  understand 
its  meaning,  with  marked  influence  for  good. 
When  the  high  priest,  Hilkiah,  found  the 
long-lost  book  of  the  law  in  the  house  of  the 
Lord  in  Josiah's  reformation,  there  was  a 
great  revival  of  righteousness.  The  Savior's 
command  to  go  into  all  the  world  and  preach 
the  gospel  looks  toward  the  same  end.  What- 
ever things  are  crooked  the  Word  of  God 
helps  to  make  straight.  It  transforms  the  bad 
things  to  good,  and  changes  the  iniquities  of 
life  to  fairness  and  equity. 


18  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

Wyckliffe's  Bible  had  an  influence  upon  the 
masses  hardly  to  be  estimated.  The  results 
were  more  apparent  fifty  years  after  his  death, 
when  the  Catholic  Church,  seeing  itself  the 
loser  through  his  labors,  commanded  that  his 
body  be  disinterred  and  the  ashes  of  his 
burned  flesh  and  bones  be  scattered  upon  the 
brook  Swift.  On  went  these  remains  into  the 
Avon,  then  into  the  Severn,  then  into  the  sea, 
and  out  into  the  ocean  to  touch  every  land, 
an  emblem  of  the  blessing  which  his  trans- 
lated Bible  brought  to  every  kindred  and 
nation. 

The  morning  star  heralded  a  later  dawn, 
and  the  dawn  enlarged  into  the  full  day.  All 
that  Wyckliffe  hoped  to  accomplish  by  a  gen- 
eral circulation  of  the  Scriptures  was  realized 
after  his  death.  His  Bible  was  a  second  vul- 
gate,  for,  like  that  of  Jerome,  it  was  in  the 
language  of  the  common  people.  But  the  sun 
had  not  yet  risen.  Other  stars  shone,  and 
they  claim  attention. 

The  Bible  of  William  Tyndale  was  needed 
fullv    as    much    as    that  of    John    Wyckliffe. 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  19 

Every  effort  had  been  made  to  check  the 
circulation  of  the  Scriptures  because  the  prev- 
alence of  such  a  book  defeated  the  selfish 
ends  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Oppression  can- 
not thrive  where  information  and  light  pene- 
trate. 

But  the  Bible  could  not  have  become  general 
if  the  English  throne  and  the  Roman  Pope  had 
been  favorable.  The  making  of  enough  manu- 
script copies  to  go  around  was  a  physical 
impossibility.  Besides,  the  cost  was  prohibi- 
tive. The  "poor  priests"  had  expounded  the 
Scriptures  more  than  they  had  sold  them. 

Tyndale  was  born  just  one  hundred  years 
after  Wyckliffe  died,  in  1484.  The  interval 
was  one  of  action.  Papacy  was  rent  by  rival 
claimants  to  the  so-called  throne  of  Peter. 
After  the  third  hearing,  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance had  condemned  John  Huss  to  be  burned 
at  the  stake,  and  the  execution  was  carried 
out  in  1415,  Jerome  of  Prague,  his  disciple, 
suffering  a  similar  fate,  thus  putting  Bohemia 
in  line  for  religious  reformation.  The  eastern 
empire  had  gone  to  pieces  at  the  middle  of  the 


20  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

fifteenth  century,  and  the  influx  of  scholars 
into  the  west  presaged  a  revival  of  common 
learning.  Martin  Luther  had  been  born  the 
year  before  Tyndale,  and  the  Teutonic  Refor- 
mation was  preparing  to  shake  the  ecclesias- 
tical throne  on  the  Tiber.  America  had  been 
discovered  by  Columbus,  and  the  world  was 
rubbing  its  eyes  as  if  awakening  to  the  sig- 
nificance of  affairs.  Most  important  of  all, 
the  art  of  printing  had  been  invented  on  the 
continent,  and  William  Caxton  had  introduced 
it  in  England  in  1476.  Erasmus,  born  at  Rot- 
terdam, was  making  the  first  edition  of  the 
New  Testament  in  Greek,  putting  it  forth  in 
1516.  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  church 
despots  and  grafters  had  no  love  for  the  print- 
ing press.  One  of  the  monks  said,  "We  must 
root  out  printing,  or  printing  will  root  us  out." 
In  England  all  was  stir.  Kings  allied  them- 
selves with  popes  to  keep  out  the  light,  for 
some  of  the  rulers  placed  their  dependence 
in  the  favor  of  the  church  or  the  ignorance 
of  the  people,  or  both.  Decrees  were  backed 
up  by  sentence  of  death.     England  was  dyed 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  21 

red,  and  her  streams  were  sprinkled  with  the 
ashes  of  her  slain.  Those  who  labored  to 
make  the  Bible  a  common  book  passed  over 
the  road  which  the  authors  of  the  original 
Bible  trod.  If  the  yielding  of  life  for  a  cause 
attests  its  worth,  there  is  abundant  proof  of 
value  here.  In  another  sense,  the  blood  of 
martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  church. 

Tyndale  had  one  dominant  purpose,  to  give 
his  brethren  of  England  the  same  taste  and 
understanding  of  God's  Word  with  which  he 
himself  had  been  endued.  He  concluded  that 
the  shortest  road  was  to  put  the  Bible  in  a 
form  accessible  to  all.  Knowing  the  corrup- 
tion in  the  church,  and  confident  that  a  com- 
mon Bible  would  render  graft  impossible,  he 
bent  all  energies  to  one  end.  To  a  monk  who 
declared  that  it  would  be  better  to  be  with- 
out God's  laws  than  without  those  of  the 
Pope,  he  replied :  "I  defy  the  Pope  and  all 
his  laws ;  if  God  spares  my  life,  I  will  cause 
a  boy  that  drives  a  plow  to  know  more  of  the 
Scriptures  than  you  do." 


22  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

Tyndale  was  an  accomplished  scholar.  He 
went  back  to  the  Hebrew  and  the  Greek  and 
made  his  translation  directly  therefrom,  while 
Wyckliffe  had  been  obliged  to  stop  with  the 
Latin  and  the  French  versions.  Inasmuch  as 
there  were  no  lexicons  or  grammars  worth 
mentioning,  his  work  would  be  counted  monu- 
mental even  if  he  had  been  favored  by  church 
and  state.  He  had  a  copy  of  Wyckliffe's  ver- 
sion at  hand,  but  depended  on  it  not  at  all. 

The  New  Testament  came  from  the  press 
in  1529,  published  on  the  continent  through 
opposition  at  home.  Tunstall.  the  bishop  of 
London,  and  other  churchmen  were  aggrieved 
and  determined  to  end  the  publication.  The 
bishop  concluded  to  buy  the  whole  three  edi- 
tions for  destruction.  Augustine  Packington, 
a  friend  of  Tyndale,  playing  a  double  role, 
offered  to  act  as  purchasing  agent.  Soon  the 
bishop  had  all  the  books,  Packington  had  pro- 
fuse thanks,  and  Tyndale  had  plenty  of  money 
— to  print  a  new  edition.  When  these  New 
Testaments  came  across  the  English  Channel 
by  boat  load,  the  bishop  called  Packington  to 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  23 

account,  but  the  purchasing  agent  replied  that 
the  bishop  made  a  mistake  in  not  buying  up 
all  the  type  and  printing  presses. 

At  another  time  a  more  serious  loss  was 
suffered.  While  going  from  Antwerp  to  Ham- 
burg to  print  some  Old  Testament  transla- 
tions, he  was  shipwrecked,  and  lost  all  his 
books,  writings,  copies,  and  money.  But  he 
boarded  another  ship,  found  other  friends  and 
helpers,  received  a  new  impulse  himself,  and 
returned  to  Antwerp  in  a  year  with  more  ac- 
complished than  he  had  hoped  for  at  the  first. 

Tyndale's  success  enraged  the  Pope  and  prel- 
ates, and  they  rested  not  till  the  king  was  en- 
listed against  him.  He  was  betrayed  on  the 
continent  by  a  supposed  friend,  thrown  into 
prison  at  Filford,  near  Antwerp,  and  finally 
strangled  as  a  punishment  for  the  most  un- 
selfish devotion  to  the  rights  of  the  people. 
To  make  the  vengeance  more  complete  and 
the  example  more  impressive,  his  body  was 
burned  and  the  ashes  scattered.  It  was  in 
1536.  With  assurance  of  his  own  right 
course,   with  conviction   that  the   church   and 


24  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

king  were  wrong,  Tyndale  prayed  fervently 
with  expiring  breath,  "Lord !  Open  the  king 
of  England's  eyes."  Henry  the  Eighth,  by 
his  very  opposition,  encouraged  the  Bible 
translators. 

The  six  thousand  Bibles  already  distributed 
had  revolutionized  England.  It  was  made  a 
criminal  offense  to  possess  a  copy.  Men  and 
women  were  burned  for  it,  a  condition  of  af- 
fairs which  we  scarcely  are  able  to  appreciate. 
But  it  is  because  of  the  leaven  of  Tyndale's 
work  that  we  can  possess  a  copy  of  the  Word 
and  not  be  in  danger  of  the  stake  or  the  hang- 
man's noose.  The  same  year  that  Tyndale 
died,  eight  editions  of  the  New  Testament 
were  printed  on  English  soil.  The  eyes  of 
Henry  the  Eighth  were  opened — to  the  futility 
of  trying  to  suppress  a  work  which  God  was 
directing.  There  were  forty  editions  in  all, 
it  is  said. 

Tyndale's  enemies  asserted  that  his  transla- 
tion was  full  of  errors  and  heresy.  He  had  re- 
sponded:  "I  call  God  to  record  against  the  day 
we  shall  appear  before  our  Lord  Jesus,  that 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  25 

I  never  altered  one  syllable  of  God's  Word 
against  my  conscience,  nor  would  this  day, 
if  all  that  is  in  the  earth,  whether  it  be  honor, 
pleasure,  or  riches,  might  be  given  me."  His 
work  was  approved  by  the  revisers  of  the  next 
century,  who  followed  partially  the  standard 
form  of  Tyndale.  Much  of  his  translation 
remains  intact  in  our  present  Bibles,  and  his 
spirit  pervades  the  whole.  He  made  the 
Bible  popular,  rather  than  literary,  spiritual 
rather  than  formal.  His  own  life  backed  up 
the  truth,  and  his  jailer,  with  members  of  his 
family,  was  converted  through  his  influence. 
An  English  historian  characterizes  Tyndale 
as  a  man  whose  history  is  lost  in  his  work, 
and  whose  epitaph  is  the  Reformation. 

Henry  the  Eighth  ruled  on  the  throne 
twenty-five  years  before  Tyndale  died.  Be- 
tween his  death  and  the  appearance  of  the 
Authorized  Version  is  a  step  of  seventy-five 
years — momentous  years  in  history-making  for 
England.  Henry  lived  according  to  caprice, 
or  at  least  by  rules  which  never  have  been 
reduced  to  a  system.     His  first  marriage  to 


26  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

his  brother's  widow,  six  years  his  senior,  was 
followed  by  the  blessing  of  the  Pope  because 
Catharine  of  Aragon  was  a  faithful  Catholic. 
His  five  subsequent  marriages,  some  of  which 
were  with  Protestants,  involved  him  in  diffi- 
culty with  the  papal  hierarchy.  His  own  atti- 
tudes of  lover,  divorcer,  and  murderer  admit 
of  no  explanation.  The  best  thing  Henry  the 
Eighth  did  was  to  establish  schools.  It  is  said 
that  more  grammar  schools  were  founded  in 
the  latter  years  of  his  reign  than  in  three 
centuries  before.  This  may  be  accounted  for 
through  the  king's  love  of  learning,  and  for 
the  accomplishments  in  which  he  took  con- 
siderable pride,  disputing  first  with  the  Pope, 
then  with  Luther,  and  finally  with  his  own 
secretaries,  some  of  whom  he  sent  to  their 
death  with  the  same  ruthlessness  as  that  with 
which  he  murdered  some  of  his  wives. 

King  Henry  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Ed- 
ward the  Sixth,  who  adhered  to  the  Protestant 
faith  partly  because  his  mother,  Jane  Seymour, 
was  a  Protestant.  He  reigned  from  1547 
to      1553,    and    was    followed   by    Mary,   the 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  27 

Catholic  daughter  of  Henry  the  Eighth  and 
Catharine  of  Aragon.  Her  reign  was  one  of 
terror.  A  fierce  persecution  of  Protestants 
was  waged,  and  two  hundred  and  eighty  vic- 
tims forfeited  their  lives  during  her  last  three 
years.  Among  the  most  eminent  of  these 
martyrs  were  Bishop  Latimer  of  Worcester, 
Bishop  Ridley  of  London,  and  Cranmer,  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury.  The  execution  of  these 
three  men  alone  is  sufficient  to  condemn  her 
to  everlasting  infamy,  and  is  a  rebuke  to  later 
historians  who  attempt  to  palliate  her  sins 
and  blame  the  condition  of  the  times  rather 
than  the  queen. 

During  the  early  part  of  this  period  four 
Bibles  appeared,  known  as  Coverdale's,  Mat- 
thew's, Taverner's,  and  the  Great  Bible,  all 
before  King  Henry  died.  It  would  seem  that 
Tyndale's  last  prayer  for  the  Lord  to  open  the 
eyes  of  the  king  of  England  had  been  heard 
in  heaven  and  answered  on  earth. 

Miles  Coverdale  worked  in  the  time  of 
Tyndale.  All  the  personal  desire  which  Tyn- 
dale  had  for  a  Bible  in  the  vernacular  of  Eng- 


28  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

land  was  burning  in  the  heart  of  Coverdale. 
When  Tyndale  lost  his  manuscript  in  the 
shipwreck  going  from  Antwerp  to  Hamburg, 
he  was  enabled  to  perform  an  unusual  amount 
of  translating  in  one  year  because  Coverdale 
worked  out  the  Pentateuch  for  him.  But  Cov- 
erdale was  a  translator  on  his  own  responsibil- 
ity. His  version  of  the  Bible,  published  in 
1535  at  Antwerp,  was  the  first  complete  Eng- 
lish Bible  ever  printed,  a  fact  worth  the  re- 
membrance of   every  Christian. 

The  association  of  Coverdale  and  Tyndale 
seems  to  have  been  mutually  agreeable  and 
helpful.  Their  versions  revealed  the  charac- 
ters of  the  men.  The  stateliness  of  the  trans- 
lation of  Tyndale  marks  him  as  a  man  of 
will  power  and  determination  which  would  not 
swerve  a  hair's  breadth  from  a  marked-out 
pathway,  no  matter  what  the  consideration 
or  what  the  threat.  It  is  such  men  who,  when 
upright  at  heart,  travel  straight  for  the  stake 
of  martyrdom  without  recanting  a  syllable. 
The  smooth  and  suave  translation  of  Cover- 
dale  betrays  a  gentler  nature,  which  may  win 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  29 

its  point  equally  well,  but  less  calculated  to 
arouse  antagonism  while  doing  so.  Some 
critics  have  seen  in  Tyndale's  work  the  strong 
masculine,  and  in  that  of  Coverdale  more  of 
the  feminine  nature.  Perhaps  on  this  account 
their  spirits  were  congenial  and  their  work 
mutually  complementary. 

Coverdale  seems  not  to  have  understood 
Hebrew  and  Greek,  naming  the  Latin  and 
German  translations  which  were  at  his  side. 
He  had  the  special  favor  of  Sir  Thomas  Crom- 
well, who  espoused  the  Reformation  in  the 
year  Coverdale's  complete  Bible  was  pub- 
lished. At  the  same  time  he  was  appointed 
by  Henry  the  Eighth  as  secretary  of  state. 
The  king  had  broken  with  the  papacy,  had 
declared  himself  and  his  country  independent 
of  religious  dictation,  and  had  made  Crom- 
well supreme,  except  for  himself,  over  the 
independent  church  of  England.  Monasteries 
numbering  six  hundred  and  forty-five  were 
abolished  at  his  command,  and  Coverdale's 
Bible  was  issued  with  the  tacit  approval  of 
royal    authority.       That    fortune   turned    and 


30  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

Cromwell  was  beheaded  for  treason  is  a  sad 
ending  of  the  man  who  was  worthy  of  a  bet- 
ter master  and  a  better  fate,  and  who  had 
much  to  do  with  answering  the  prayer  of 
Tyndale  that  the  king's  eyes  might  be  opened. 
Coverdale  was  banished,  but  died  later  in  his 
native  land.  Like  Martin  Luther,  he  was  a 
monk  of  the  Augustinian  order. 

Two  years  after  Miles  Coverdale's  Bible 
appeared,  the  one  known  as  Matthew's  Bible 
was  issued,  in  1537.  It  is  a  combination  of 
Tyndale  and  Coverdale,  with  some  portions  in 
the  translator's  individual  style.  The  Penta- 
teuch and  New  Testament  were  given  to  Tyn- 
dale ;  the  Old  Testament  from  Ezra  to  Mala- 
chi,  to  Coverdale,  and  the  books  from  Joshua 
to  Second  Chronicles,  to  the  new  author.  The 
name  of  Thomas  Matthew  is  a  pseudonym  on 
account  of  the  martyrdom  of  Tyndale  and 
the  consequent  danger  in  which  a  Bible  trans- 
lator lived.  This  Bible  was  dedicated  to 
Henry  the  Eighth.  Its  author  is  supposed  to 
be  John  Rogers,  who  was  burned  in  Smith- 
field  in  1555.     The  chief  value  of  this  trans- 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  31 

lation  is  its  helpfulness  to  the  ones  who  pre- 
pared the  Authorized  Version  in  the  early  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century. 

Two  years  later,  in  1539,  another  version 
appeared,  made  by  Richard  Taverner.  This 
was  the  work  of  a  layman,  but  he  was 
licensed  as  a  layman  to  preach  by  Edward  the 
Sixth,  anticipating  the  lay  ministry  of  our  own 
day.  The  Bible  was  under  the  patronage  of 
Cromwell  and  dedicated  to  the  king.  Tav- 
erner wrote  several  volumes  to  support  the 
reformation,  the  same  general  purpose  under- 
lying his  translation  of  the  Scriptures. 

In  the  same  year,  1539,  another  version, 
called  the  Great  Bible,  was  completed.  It  was 
fifteen  by  nine  inches  in  size,  and  was  trans- 
lated by  such  eminent  men  as  Cranmer,  then 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Tunstall,  Bishop 
of  London,  Cromwell,  Vicar  General  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  Coverdale,  whose 
name  and  work  have  passed  under  review. 
Several  editions  of  the  Great  Bible  were  issued 
under  the  names  of  colleagues,  so  that  Crom- 
well is  supposed  to  have  fathered  the  edition 


32  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

of  1539,  and  Cranmer  that  of  1540.  This 
was  intended  for  use  in  parish  churches. 
King  Henry  issued  a  proclamation  in  1540  to 
accompany  its  reading.  Thus  the  Bible  be- 
came a  familiar  book  in  every  church,  although 
individual  homes  were  not  yet  supplied  be- 
cause of  pecuniary  circumstances.  It  is  re- 
markable that  in  three  years  from  the  death 
of  Tyndale  so  much  was  accomplished,  and 
that,  by  the  cooperation  of  leaders  in  the 
church  and  state.  Even  Bishop  Tunstall,  who 
was  chief  in  driving  Tyndale  to  execution, 
was  helping  to  prepare  the  English  Bible  in 
this  short  period,  performing  the  very  deeds 
which  had  aroused  him  to  bitterest  persecu- 
tion. As  an  evidence  of  the  spirit  of  the  times, 
of  the  devotion  of  scholars,  the  dates  of  these 
four  versions  are  repeated:  Coverdale's,  1535; 
Matthew's,  1537;  Taverner's,  1539;  the  Great 
Bible,  1539.  The  last  two  were  issued  eight 
years  before  the  end  of  Henry  the  Eighth's 
reign. 

After  the  appearance  of  the  Great   Bible, 
eighteen  years   intervened   until   another  ver- 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  33 

sion.  No  other  period  of  equal  length  was 
marked  by  such  great  and  sudden  changes 
in  England.  Henry  the  Eighth  had  begun  to 
play  for  the  favor  of  Rome.  Although  his 
portrait  appeared  in  the  Great  Bible,  he  placed 
the  severest  restrictions  upon  its  use,  or  the 
use  of  any  other.  In  that  Catholic  reaction 
which  was  aided  by  the  fickleness  of  the  king, 
Parliament  itself  was  swept  off  its  feet,  and 
in  1543  forbade  all  translations  bearing  Tyn- 
dale's  name,  and  even  placed  the  reading  of 
the  Bible  under  the  ban,  whether  in  public  or 
private,  for  personal  edification  or  the  instruc- 
tion of  others,  so  far  as  merchants,  artificers, 
journeymen,  farmers,  and  other  laborers  were 
concerned.  Under  this  decree  the  Word  of 
God  became  precious  ;  but  the  craving  to  know 
the  divine  will  and  the  longing  for  communion 
with  God  through  his  Word  could  not  be 
stifled  under  threats  of  imprisonment  or 
death.  When  Edward  the  Sixth,  before  al- 
luded to  as  the  son  of  Jane  Seymour,  came 
to  the  throne  in  1547,  for  a  six  years'  reign, 
the  Bible  was  welcomed  back  into  the  church 


34  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

and  home.  At  his  coronation  he  called  for  a 
Bible  and  pronounced  it  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit.  During  his  short  reign  the  New  Testa- 
ment passed  through  thirty-five  editions,  and 
the  entire  Bible  thirteen.  The  sacred  Book 
was  commended  for  the  use  of  the  people  and 
no  one,  rich  or  poor,  great  or  small,  feared 
either  sword  or  hangman's  noose  when  read- 
ing the  Word. 

But  if  it  seemed  that  the  Book  had  come  to 
stay,  and  the  people  were  to  enjoy  the  priv- 
ilege vouchsafed  by  virtue  of  their  creation, 
such  hopes  were  dashed  to  pieces  by  the  pre- 
mature death  of  Protestant  Edward  and  the 
accession  to  the  throne  of  his  half-sister,  Cath- 
olic Mary,  bloody  Mary,  daughter  of  Cath- 
arine of  Aragon.  Again  persecution  made 
interest  in  God's  Word  thrive,  and  the  blood 
of  martyrs  was  the  seed  of  progress  and 
knowledge.  At  once,  Mary  began  the  fiercest 
persecution  of  the  Protestants.  Had  they  not 
crossed  the  English  Channel  for  safety,  the 
three  hundred  martyrs  would  be  an  insig- 
nificant number  compared  to  those  she  would 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  35 

have  killed.  Among  the  choice  spirits  in  flight 
were  Coverdale,  John  Bodley,  John  Knox,  and 
William  Whittingham,  the  last  named  a 
brother-in-law  of  John  Calvin.  Perhaps, 
through  this  relationship,  the  presence  of  Cal- 
vin was  sought.  At  any  rate  the  influence  of 
that  great  reformer  was  marked  in  the  life 
and  work  of  Whittingham.  He  succeeded 
John  Knox  as  pastor  at  Geneva,  which  city 
had  become  a  peace  center  on  account  of  the 
storms  raging  everywhere  throughout  Europe. 
Whittingham's  New  Testament  appeared  in 
1557,  Calvin  working  side  by  side  in  perfect- 
ing the  French  Bible.  Thus  the  persecution 
of  bloody  Mary  had  a  direct  influence  on 
furthering  the  very  cause  which  she  deter- 
mined to  destroy.  It  gave  another  Bible  to 
the  people;  and  the  Bible  in  the  hands  of  the 
people  always  is  a  weapon  in  defense  of  right, 
justice,  and  liberty. 

The  Genevan  Bible  followed  Whittingham's 
New  Testament  in  1560.  It  was  the  first 
English  Bible  printed  in  Roman  type  instead 
of  the  black  letters,  and  the  first  to  break  up 


36  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

the  paragraphs  into  verses  as  appearing  in  the 
Bibles  familiar  to  us.  Italicized  words  were 
first  used  to  complete  the  English  sense  where 
they  did  not  appear  in  the  original.  More  than 
any  Bible  before,  it  was  a  book  for  the  com- 
mon people  and  soon  found  general  circulation 
in  England  and  Scotland.  John  Knox,  whose 
soul  cried  out  for  the  salvation  of  Scotland, 
used  it  in  place  of  Tyndale's  version.  This 
Bible  was  almost  finished  during  the  time  of 
stress  at  home.  It  was  given  to  the  public  at 
the  most  opportune  time  for  general  circula- 
tion and  acceptance.  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Henry  the  Eighth  and  Anne  Boleyn,  conse- 
quently the  half-sister  both  of  Edward  the 
Sixth  and  bloody  Alary,  had  ascended  the 
throne,  and  gave  her  subjects  a  gracious  reign. 
It  was  the  golden  age  of  English  letters. 
Shakespeare  and  Spenser  were  leaders  in 
England's  literary  eminence.  Elizabeth, 
though  somewhat  changeable  in  conduct  if  not 
in  character,  gave  general  favor  to  anything 
that  uplifted  the  people  and  advanced  them  in 
learning.    The  Bible  issuing  from  Geneva,  the 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  37 

haven  of  the  persecuted,  found  free  access  in 
every  road  and  byway  of  England. 

The  Bishops'  Bible  was  originated  and  pro- 
moted by  Matthew  Parker,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  for  which  reason  it  sometimes 
bears  the  name  of  Parker's  Bible.  He  distrib- 
uted the  Scriptures  to  able  bishops  and  other 
learned  men,  asking  that  they  translate  their 
respective  assignments  in  accordance  with 
their  best  understanding,  adding  marginal 
notes  for  illustration  or  explanation.  These 
translations  were  to  come  back  to  him  for 
final  revision,  printing,  and  publishing.  Thus 
a  very  pronounced,  composite  work  was  pre- 
pared, quite  serviceable  for  popular  use  for 
which  it  was  devised.  As  there  was  no  perse- 
cution of  Protestants  at  this  time,  the  work 
was  done  in  England.  Besides,  it  was  chiefly 
a  Catholic  undertaking.  The  distinction  of 
this  version  is  that  it  was  formally  adopted 
as  the  basis  for  the  later  King  James  version, 
not  of  course  to  the  exclusion  of  all  influence 
of  its  predecessors,  or  its  successor,  now  to 
be  named. 


38  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

The  next  Bible  in  point  of  time  is  called  the 
Douay  or  the  Rheims.  Northeast  of  Paris 
about  one  hundred  miles,  the  English  Cath- 
olics were  maintaining  their  oldest  college. 
The  city  otherwise  was  rather  a  dull  place, 
but  now  has  grown  to  a  population  of  about 
twenty-five  thousand.  The  increasing  influ- 
ence of  the  other  English  versions,  particularly 
in  making  the  people  more  independent  in 
thought  and  action,  greatly  worried  the  lead- 
ers of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  They  de- 
termined to  have  a  version  of  their  own  which 
would  be  pointed  enough  to  hold  their  ad- 
herents in  line.  The  Catholics  were  shrewd 
enough  to  see  that  the  common  people  would 
read  the  Scriptures,  and  that  the  best  thing 
for  the  Catholic  Church  was  to  have  a  Bible 
prepared  under  strict  Catholic  influences. 
Further,  the  college  at  Douay,  founded  by 
William  Allen,  taught  the  Bible  daily  to  its 
students.  This  is  a  remarkable  deviation  from 
the  beaten  path  of  Catholicism,  and  cannot 
be  explained  otherwise  than  on  the  ground 
that  the   Catholics   feared    further  defections 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  39 

from  their  ranks.  So  much  is  to  be  credited 
to  the  Protestant  influence  in  securing  the 
Bible  for  the  masses. 

The  Genevan  Bible  was  the  chief  inspira- 
tion of  that  known  as  the  Douay  or  the 
Rheims.  It  is  called  Rheims  sometimes,  from 
the  removal  of  the  Douay  College  to  the 
city  of  Rheims  in  the  northernmost  province 
of  France,  where  it  remained  fifteen  years, 
going  back  to  Douay  after  some  national  trou- 
bles were  settled.  The  new  translation  was 
initiated  by  William  Allen,  the  college  founder, 
an  educated  teacher  in  Oxford,  then  a  cardinal 
in  the  making,  granted  a  red  hat  by  Pope 
Sixtus  Fifth.  Gregory  Martin  is  credited 
with  most  of  the  translating,  his  work 
being  passed  upon  finally  by  Allen,  Bristow, 
and  perhaps  other  associates.  The  text 
used  as  a  guide  was  the  Vulgate  of 
Jerome,  so  that  to  the  Douay  version  were 
transferred  its  excellences  and  its  defects.  The 
New  Testament  appeared  in  1582  at  Rheims, 
the  Old  Testament  in  1609  or  1610,  the  ex- 
tended period  between  the  two  being  due  to 


40  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

the  lack  of  funds  for  publishing.  At  the  head 
of  the  chapters  was  printed  the  line  of  argu- 
ment. Explanatory  notes  were  made  and 
errors  of  the  so-called  Protestant  heretics  were 
corrected.  Not  until  the  middle  of  the  cen- 
tury were  the  two  Testaments  issued  together, 
which  was  done  by  Richard  Challoner.  Amer- 
ican editions  of  this  version  were  made  in 
1854  and  1861.  Revisions  in  Europe  toned 
down  some  of  the  controversial  notes. 

As  the  present  year  is  the  three  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  issuance  of  what  is  known 
as  the  Authorized  Version  of  the  Bible,  or  the 
King  James  Version,  it  has  the  greatest  in- 
terest. In  point  of  time  and  daily  use,  it  has 
far  outlived  any  other  version.  While  men 
learned  in  the  Scriptures  and  exalted  in  state 
positions  labored  together  for  the  production 
of  this  monumental  work,  God  himself  must 
have  had  the  directing  power.  Political  af- 
fairs were  approaching  a  crisis,  which  the 
most  prophetic  scarcely  could  foresee.  James 
the  Sixth  of  Scotland  had  become  James  the 
First  of  England.     The  two  countries  were 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  41 

united  under  one  head.  The  Puritan  move- 
ment, which  resulted  in  the  Genevan  Bible, 
was  growing  throughout  England,  and  prom- 
ising to  control  the  ecclesiastical  affairs  of  the 
kingdom.  This  ultra-Protestant  movement 
was  balanced  by  great  activity  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  which  gave  birth  to  the  Douay  Bible. 
Oliver  Cromwell  was  a  boy  of  five,  and 
Charles  the  First,  of  whom  he  became  the 
opponent  and  avenging  fury,  was  one  year  his 
junior.  It  was  but  four  years  to  the  birth  of 
John  Milton,  the  embodiment  of  all  the  force 
and  feeling  of  Puritanism,  in  so  far  as  they 
can  be  concentrated  in  one  man. 

The  new  King  James  was  a  mixture  of 
character  traits.  While  building  up  his  king- 
dom, his  foreign  policy  was  a  disgrace.  He 
disappointed  the  Catholics,  who  had  hoped 
much  from  his  ascension,  and  soon  turned  his 
back  upon  European  Puritanism  likewise.  No 
one  knew  where  to  find  him.  Although  he 
promulgated  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  right 
of  kings,  he  sent  his  own  son  to  the  scaffold. 
He  was  a  grafter  in  monopolies  and  patents 


42  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

which  would  make  a  modern  American  of  that 
class  envious.  Walter  Scott's  comment  that 
King  James  was  reputed  to  be  the  most 
learned  fool  in  Christendom  was  justified. 
That  at  the  same  time  he  possessed  great 
learning  and  was  ignorant  of  what  to  do  with 
it,  sums  up  his  character.  The  disappointment 
of  the  Catholics  resulted  in  a  plot  to  destroy 
the  king  and  parliament,  known  in  history  as 
the  Gunpowder  Plot,  the  first  knowledge  of 
which  is  handed  school  children  in  the  rhyme, 
"Remember,  oh,  remember, 
The  fifth  day  of  November, 

Of  gunpowder,  treason,  and  plot; 
I  can  think  of  no  reason 
Why  gunpowder  treason 
Should  ever  be  forgot." 
But  the  plot  was  discovered  and  its  agents 
foiled.     Guy  Fawkes  was  arrested  after  light- 
ing the  fuses,  and  subsequently  suffered  exe- 
cution. 

With  the  storms  of  trouble  gathering,  and 
an  era  of  political  importance  dawning,  a  Bible 
in  which  all  could  agree,  circulating  freely, 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  43 

would  prove  a  greater  mainstay  of  national 
and  church  principles  than  any  other  one  fac- 
tor could  prove  to  be. 

Only  by  giving  God  a  large  place  in  directing 
affairs  can  we  understand  the  philosophy  of 
history  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  Human  causes  are  not  sufficient  for 
the  effects,  or  human  plans  for  the  accomplish- 
ments. In  January,  1604,  James  called  a  con- 
ference on  ecclesiastical  matters  in  Hampton 
Court  Palace,  near  London.  A  Puritan  peti- 
tion, signed  by  eight  hundred  clergymen,  was 
denied  in  toto.  Because  of  their  persistence 
he  broke  up  the  conference  and  threatened  to 
banish  them  from  his  realm.  Thus  James 
opposed  the  radical  Protestants  and  radical 
Catholics  alike.  Susceptible  to  flattery,  he 
heeded  the  suggestions  of  Dr.  John  Reynolds, 
president  of  Corpus  Christi  College,  and  a 
Puritan  leader,  that  a  new  version  of  the  Bible 
should  be  prepared.  Reynolds  claimed  that 
the  Bishops'  Bible,  which  was  regarded  as 
authoritative,  was  the  cause  of  much  of  the 
ecclesiastical    trouble.      It    was    a    stroke    of 


44  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

policy  to  get  rid  of  a  Bible  largely  Catholic 
in  the  hope  of  something  modified  through  the 
growing  Puritan  influence.  The  king  favored 
the  undertaking  and  asked  various  bishops  to 
name  men  versed  in  Hebrew  and  Greek  and 
in  the  languages  of  the  other  versions,  to  per- 
from  the  task.  Six  companies  of  nine  each 
were  formed,  two  companies  working  at  Ox- 
ford, two  at  Cambridge,  and  two  at  West- 
minster. Representatives  brought  the  finished 
work  together  for  comparison  and  unification. 
The  actual  labor  began  about  1607.  How 
thoroughly  it  was  performed  is  shown  in  the 
working  over  of  some  passages  more  than  a 
dozen  times.  Anticipating  a  large  demand, 
two  editions  were  set  up  and  printed  simul- 
taneously in  1611.  The  third  edition  was 
printed  the  same  year,  one  copy  of  which  re- 
mains now  in  New  York. 

The  king  had  directed  that  the  Bishops' 
Bible  be  the  basis  for  the  new  version,  but  the 
scholars  went  beyond  this  point  and  used  both 
the  Genevan  and  the  Douay  Bibles.  Both  of 
these  had  been  prepared  by  thorough  scholars. 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  45 

The  catholicity  of  the  revisers  is  proven  by 
their  willingness  to  get  light  from  the  ultra- 
radical of  Protestants  or  Catholics.  Soon  the 
new  version  came  into  universal  use.  In  fifty 
years  the  epistles  and  gospels  in  the  English 
prayer-book  were  changed  for  this  version. 
The  good,  clear,  idiomatic  style  made  it  a 
favorite,  and  it  never  has  relaxed  its  hold  on 
the  affections  of  men.  That  it  should  exist 
through  the  mighty  changes  of  empire  and 
tongues  and  beliefs  is  attributed  to  the  faith- 
fulness of  the  translators,  and  as  well  to  the 
power  of  heaven  which  always  is  at  work  for 
the  protection  of  its  own. 

What  is  known  as  the  Revised  Version  of 
the  Bible  was  determined  by  the  convocation 
of  Canterbury  in  1870.  Thirty-seven  scholars 
were  set  to  work  on  the  Old  Testament  and 
twenty-nine  on  the  New.  Five  religious 
bodies  were  engaged  in  England.  The  United 
States  also  had  a  part,  nine  denominations  con- 
tributing. Deliberations  were  exchanged 
across  the  sea.  All  the  versions  and  manu- 
scripts available  were  worked  thoroughly.   The 


46  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

New  Testament  appeared  in  England,  May 
17,  1881,  and  in  the  United  States  three  days 
later.  Three  million  copies  were  sold  the  first 
year.  A  Chicago  paper  received  the  entire 
Testament  by  cable  from  England  and  printed 
all  of  it  in  a  single  morning  issue.  The  Old 
Testament  did  not  appear  until  1885. 

There  was  considerable  dissatisfaction  with 
the  English  version  in  its  home  land.  One 
class  claimed  that  too  few  changes  had  been 
made  in  style  and  diction.  Another  class, 
which  had  become  familiar  with  the  phrase- 
ology of  the  Authorized  Version  until  its 
words  had  acquired  a  kind  of  sacredness,  did 
not  welcome  what  changes  had  been  made. 
Americans  were  displeased  because  the  English 
revisers  paid  little  attention  to  the  opinion  of 
the  West  and  relegated  most  of  the  American 
notes  to  an  appendix.  The  English  commit- 
tee disbanded  when  the  work  was  done,  but 
the  American  committee  maintained  its  organ- 
ization. 

An  agreement  had  been  made  that  the 
American  committee  might  issue  its  own  re- 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  47 

vision  fourteen  years  after  the  English  edi- 
tion. So,  in  1901,  the  American  Standard 
Revised  Version  was  given  to  the  public,  re- 
garded both  here  and  in  England  as  the  best 
translation  of  the  Scriptures  ever  made.  The 
greatest  shipment  of  Bibles  since  they  were 
first  printed  occurred  in  June,  1911,  when  two 
carloads  of  the  American  Standard  Version 
were  sent  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco, 
numbering  twenty-five  thousand,  to  be  carried 
in  the  men's  parade  at  the  San  Francisco 
International  Sunday-School  Convention,  and 
then  to  be  distributed  to  the  hotels  on  the 
Pacific  coast  as  the  gift  of  the  Gideons  to  their 
brethren  in  commercial  life. 

Whether  the  Authorized  Version  will  be 
displaced  by  the  American  Standard  revision, 
no  one  can  tell.  Present  indications  are  that 
minds  are  turning  back  again  to  the  old  book 
that  has  had  a  familiar  place  for  three  hundred 
years.  Certain  it  is  that  the  English  revision 
has  lost  its  grip  upon  the  church.  Whatever 
the  future  may  hold,  any  honest  translation  of 
the    Scriptures   contains    sufficient    instruction 


48  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

to  lead  a  soul  out  of  darkness  into  light,  from 
the  kingdom  of  Satan  into  the  kingdom  of 
God.  In  this  way  God  honors  his  Word  as 
the  important  channel  of  instruction  and  ever- 
lasting blessing. 


The  Bible  and  Education 

PROFESSOR  THORNDIKE  says  that 
the  necessity  for  education  arises  from 
the  fact  that  what  is,  is  not  what  ought 
to  be.  This  "ought"  may  be  grounded  partly 
in  utility;  certainly  it  has  partial  basis  in  that 
perfection  of  character  which  is  every  man's 
right. 

Education  is  development,  training.  It  is 
a  cultivation  of  something  for  the  purpose  of 
growth — the  body,  the  mind,  the  soul.  The 
methods  may  be  diverse,  the  scope  more  or 
less  inclusive,  and  the  purpose  as  varied  as  the 
types  of  mind.  But  the  whole  process  is  one 
of  growth,  of  culture,  of  adaptation,  of  train- 
ing. It  is  a  gradual  putting  of  what  ought  to 
be  in  the  place  of  what  is. 

A  liberal  education  looks  toward  quantity, 
toward  enlargement.  It  is  unrestricted  in 
spirit  and  in  scope.  It  despises  stint  and  loves 
bounty.      It  implies  expansion  as  opposed  to 

49 


50  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

narrowness.  It  makes  one  broad  in  sympathy, 
refined  in  taste,  and  strong  in  character. 

What  has  the  Bible  to  do  with  a  liberal  edu- 
cation? Is  it  an  impetus  behind,  an  incentive 
ahead,  or  a  motive  power  along  the  way?  Or 
is  it  an  integral  part  of  that  education  entitled 
to  be  called  liberal  ?  What  is  the  propriety  of 
hitching  these  two  things  together  in  a  single 
subject? 

The  Bible  has  a  vital  part  in  a  liberal  edu- 
cation. It  is  an  impetus,  an  incentive,  a  power 
by  the  way.  It  is  an  essential  part  of  a  well- 
rounded  education.  Indeed,  the  statement 
may  be  made  in  advance  that  an  education 
apart  from  the  form  and  the  spirit  of  the  Bible 
is  as  defective  as  a  pyramid  without  an  apex, 
a  steam  engine  without  a  boiler,  or  a  man 
without  a  heart.  In  other  words,  a  liberal  edu- 
cation without  a  knowledge  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures  is  a  contradiction  of  terms.  The 
subject  is  all  right. 

In  United  Brethren  circles  it  will  meet  with 
approval  to  take  the  standard  of  Otterbein 
Universitv  as  a  guide  to  that  which  is  liberal 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  51 

in  education.  In  the  current  catalogue  there 
are  seven  general  groups  of  studies,  not  count- 
ing the  adjunct  departments.  And  these  cover 
the  recognized  ground  of  collegiate  education. 
Without  following  the  catalogue  order,  they 
are  as  follows : 

1.  Classical  Language  and  Literature. 

2.  Modern  Language  and  Literature. 

3.  Philosophy  and  Education. 

4.  History  and  Political  Science. 

5.  Chemistry  and  Biology. 

6.  Mathematics  and  Physics. 

7.  The  Bible  and  Missions. 

The  seventh  and  last  is  eliminated  from  the 
list  on  the  ground  that  it  is  an  interested  party 
and  might  be  prejudiced  in  its  own  favor. 
The  fifth  and  sixth  will  receive  no  notice  be- 
cause of  the  superior  claims  of  the  first  four. 
What  has  the  Bible  to  do  with  these,  and  what 
attention  must  it  have  in  order  to  their  proper 
understanding? 

Classical  languages  and  literature  have  a  per- 
manent interest  for  the  student.  Here  one 
finds  the  thought  of  the  past  embodied.   Medi- 


52  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

eval  life  cannot  be  understood  without  knowl- 
edge of  that  which  was  ancient,  any  more  than 
the  present  is  clear  without  relation  both  to 
ancient  and  medieval.  The  principal  thing 
which  has  descended  to  us  from  the  remote 
past  is  the  language  and  that  which  is  im- 
bedded in  the  literature.  This  is  the  only 
span  of  connection  between  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury after  and  the  tenth  century  before,  and 
reveals  practically  all  we  know  about  civili- 
zation, customs,  beliefs,  and  racial  movements. 

No  self-respecting  scholar  can  pass  ancient 
literature  by  and  maintain  that  self-respect ; 
certainly  not  the  confidence  of  others.  Far 
better  is  it  if  the  content  of  the  ancient  liter- 
ature is  gained  from  the  original  language, 
instead  of  depending  on  a  translation.  A 
generation  ago  some  mothers  chewed  meats 
and  vegetables  for  their  children ;  but  the 
practice  was  a  mistake.  Greek  poetry  and 
Latin  history  are  offered  to  us  chewed;  it  is 
better  in  every  way  to  do  our  own  chewing. 

Generally  the  classic  languages  are  under- 
stood to  include  the  Greek  and  the  Latin.    The 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  53 

Greek  has  so  much  of  interest  in  itself,  and 
has  so  much  of  value  to  every  modern  gener- 
ation, that  it  never  can  disappear  from  the  col- 
lege courses,  let  any  man  try  to  remove  it 
who  will.  As  long  as  there  is  life  there  will 
be  philosophy;  and  the  grandmother  of  mod- 
ern philosophy  was  Greece  before  Christ. 
Positively,  we  cannot  understand  ourselves, 
our  present  mental  processes,  or  how  we 
reached  our  present  state  and  present  forms  of 
activity,  unless  we  go  back  nearly  forty  cen- 
turies and  come  down  the  line.  In  this  course 
we  come  through  Greece. 

What  would  a  history  of  philosophy  be  with- 
out Socrates  and  Plato?  How  could  the  chain 
of  history  hold  every  link  without  Xenophon 
and  Herodotus?  How  could  the  drama  be 
understood  without  Sophocles  and  ^Eschylus? 
How  could  the  epic  take  its  course  without 
the  immortal  Homer,  despised  while  alive,  his 
birthplace  contended  for  by  ten  cities  after  he 
had  died?  The  works  of  Aristotle  form  a 
reliable  text-book  yet  in  natural  history.  Every 
line   crowded   perfection.      But,    whether   we 


54  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

pursue  one  course  or  another,  a  single  one  or 
all  together,  we  are  forced  to  exclaim,  "One 
thing  thou  lackest."  A  certain  vitality  is 
wanting.  There  is  a  striving  without  attain- 
ment, a  day  dream  without  realization,  a  vision 
of  outline  but  devoid  of  substance.  Yet  no 
one  can  be  ignorant  of  the  Greek  language 
and  the  literature  of  the  Greeks  and  claim 
a  comprehensive  knowledge  of  affairs. 

Cross  the  sea  to  the  next  peninsula.  Change 
Greece  for  Rome.  Substitute  Caesar,  Livy, 
and  Tacitus  for  the  other  historians.  Take 
Cicero  for  Demosthenes  in  oratory,  and  for 
Plato  in  philosophy.  Put  Virgil  in  the  place 
of  Homer  as  the  epic  poet  of  the  Augustan 
age.  Here  is  a  book  which  for  plot  and  exe- 
cution has  no  superior;  a  book  of  beauty,  of 
pathos,  and  of  power.  The  Latin  language 
alone  could  occupy  one  well  from  the  cradle 
to  the  grave.  Virgil's  ^Lneid  is  worthy  a  life- 
time of  study  from  the  standpoint  of  mere 
scholarship.  The  similes  which  he  has  de- 
veloped stand  unsurpassed  in  uninspired  liter- 
ature.     No  man  has  a  right  to  love  history, 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  55 

and  sociology,  and  political  economy,  and  con- 
stitutional law,  and  exquisite  painting,  and  re- 
nowned sculpture,  unless  he  love  the  Latin 
tongue.  No  one  who  prizes  French  and  Span- 
ish and  Portuguese  can  despise  Latin,  for  they 
are  the  children  of  the  Latin.  If  one  should 
begin  from  its  mouth  to  explore  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  and  should  stop  where  the  Ohio 
empties,  and  then  claim  to  have  a  complete 
and  accurate  knowledge  of  the  Father  of 
Waters,  he  would  be  no  less  truthful  than  a 
man  who  lays  claim  to  a  liberal  education  but 
does  not  go  to  the  headwaters  of  the  stream. 

The  Hebrew  nation  antedated  both  Greece 
and  Rome.  While  the  Greek  philosophers 
were  coming  to  their  birth,  Hebrew  civiliza- 
tion had  attained  a  high  standard.  While  the 
Greek  language  was  in  process  of  formation, 
the  Hebrew  was  perfected.  Rome  came  after 
Greece.  The  Hebrew  books,  too,  are  classics. 
They  are  the  output  of  a  great  nation,  ignor- 
ance of  which  cannot  be  winked  at.  The  Old 
Testament  is  the  chief  production.  It  is  in 
prose  and  poetry.     It  contains  myth,  legend, 


56  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

history,  legislation,  oratory,  drama,  parable, 
proverb,  fable,  philosophy.  In  the  Words  of 
another:  "It  includes  the  perfervid  outpourings 
of  the  impassioned  worshiper  and  the  deliber- 
ate musings  of  a  reflective  philosopher.  There 
are  utterances  hot  from  the  furnaces  of  pas- 
sion, and  polished  poems  of  the  study.  In- 
deed, this  literature  runs  the  entire  gamut 
of  national  and  individual  emotion  as  well  as 
of  literary  form.  Among  the  sacred  books 
of  the  world's  faiths  none  is  nearly  so  rich  in 
its  variety  of  form,  content,  and  expression  as 
the  Old  Testament  of  the  Christian  Bible." 

Here  we  strike  a  new  element — "sacred 
books  of  the  world's  faith."  The  crowning 
piece  of  Hebrew  literature  lays  claim  to  an 
unusual  sacredness.  The  heart  of  the  writer 
was  touched  with  a  power  from  above. 
Heaven  joined  with  earth  to  make  the  earth 
a  training  school  for  heaven.  Revelation  took 
the  place  of  evolution,  and  lifted  mind  and 
heart  to  heights  unattainable  by  mere  human 
effort.  The  inspired  writings,  the  classics  of 
the  most  influential  people  on  earth,  have  a 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  57 

vitality  all  their  own.  That  which  was  lack- 
ing in  the  literature  of  Greece  and  Rome  is 
found  all-pervasive  in  the  Old  Testament.  In 
place  of  the  man-produced,  we  have  the  God- 
breathed. 

To  one  nation  it  has  been  given  to  direct  the 
practical  business  of  the  world  more  than  any- 
other,  to  find  its  way  into  every  country  and 
settle  in  every  city,  to  live  according  to  law 
and  increase  in  wealth,  to  maintain  physical 
features  and  purity  of  blood,  to  reverence 
ancestry  and  cultivate  a  kindred  fraternalism, 
to  get  control  of  the  world  to  such  an  extent 
that  no  great  war  dare  be  declared  to-day 
without  asking  the  Hebrew  whether  he  will 
furnish  the  money  to  finance  it. 

Out  of  the  loins  of  this  race  came  a  man, 
the  simple  story  of  whose  life  has  transformed 
the  cannibal  into  a  peaceful  citizen ;  converted 
the  nude  heathen,  clothed  him  with  raiment, 
and  started  him  in  arts  and  industries ;  sub- 
dued lands  and  made  them  bud  and  blossom ; 
penetrated  dark  continents,  and  destroyed  idol- 
atry, superstition,  and  polygamy ;   robbed  the 


58  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

Ganges  of  infants  sacrificed  to  offended 
deities ;  battered  down  the  exclusive  walls  of 
Japan,  and  lifted  her  to  a  rank  among  nations ; 
cut  off  the  hoary  locks  of  China,  and  inspired 
her  to  discard  the  robes  of  an  effete  past  and 
put  on  the  clothes  of  modern  progress ; 
knocked  at  the  rusty-hinged  door  of  Korea 
till  the  sleepy  old  hermit  nation  heard  the 
voice,  opened  the  door,  and  greeted  her  long- 
lost  Savior.  Every  nation  and  tongue  and 
people  that  heard  the  story  has  been  healed 
of  infirmities,  renewed  in  youth,  and  given  that 
one  thing  which  makes  it  worth  while.  All 
this  is  owed  to  the  fact  and  the  persistence 
of  a  certain  language,  whose  most  familiar 
book  is  a  portion  of  the  Bible. 

The  Greek  New  Testament  was  added  to 
the  Hebrew  of  the  Old,  fulfilling  its  promises, 
answering  its  hopes,  calming  its  fears,  and 
comforting  its  sorrows.  It  has  gone  with 
swifter  foot,  with  more  winsome  voice,  and 
with  wings  of  greater  healing  than  its  older 
counterpart,  a  fellow-soldier  in  the  battles  of 
the  cross,  and  a  sharer  in  all  the  joys  of  every 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  59 

victory.  It  is  this  which  has  changed  nations, 
and  boundary  lines,  and  human  hearts.  The 
Vedas  and  the  Koran  have  nothing  in  com- 
parison, and  Confucianism  consists  of  nega- 
tive moral  principles  rather  than  rising  into 
a  religion  with  salvation  for  the  soul.  If  a 
liberal  education  should  not  include  the  Bible, 
what  else  has  a  right  to  be  called  liberal  ? 

If  the  Bible  had  a  large  part  in  ancient  liter- 
ature and  every  department  of  life  that  liter- 
ature touched,  much  more  has  it  a  place  in 
modern  language  and  literature.  French  in- 
fidelity has  been  occasioned  by  it,  for  infidelity 
is  measured  by  one's  antagonistic  attitude 
toward  the  truth  as  related  to  Jesus  Christ. 
German  rationalism  and  English  skepticism 
also  are  negative  beliefs  which  imply  the  gen- 
eral presence  of  a  positive.  Dante  and  his 
"Divine  Comedy"  must  be  regarded  in  a  broad 
education  equally  with  Celsus,  the  first  pagan 
critic  of  Christianity,  together  with  his  stric- 
tures. 

But  we  are  most  at  home  in  English.  That 
a  knowledge  of  the  Bible  is  necessary  to  the 


60  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

interpretation  of  English  literature  is  shown 
by  Coleridge  in  these  words :  "To  give  the 
history  of  the  Bible  as  a  book  would  be  little 
else  than  to  relate  the  origin  or  first  excite- 
ment of  all  the  literature  we  possess.  From 
this  storehouse  of  literary  materials  our  lead- 
ing writers  have  most  freely  drawn."  Roth 
the  spirit  and  the  language  of  the  Bible  per- 
meate the  writings  of  Shakespeare,  the  first 
literary  genius  of  the  western  islands.  Thirty- 
seven  of  his  plays  are  said  to  contain  allu- 
sions to  the  Scriptures.  Francis  Bacon,  who 
has  been  called  the  father  of  inductive  study, 
which  course  gave  us  reliable  science,  was  a 
close  second  in  his  acquaintance  with  the  Bible 
and  the  use  of  its  terms.  John  Milton's  im- 
perishable work,  "Paradise  Lost,"  is  satu- 
rated with  the  Bible,  and  John  Bunyan's 
"Pilgrim's  Progress"  is  a  classic  whose  value 
approaches  zero  when  divorced  from  the 
Bible.  Tennyson,  who  ranks  first  among  Eng- 
lish poets,  makes  above  four  hundred  refer- 
ences to  the  Bible ;  Longfellow,  the  sweet 
singer   of    New    England,    almost    as    many; 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  61 

while  Browning  puts  one  hundred  and  fifty 
scriptural  allusions  into  twenty-five  hundred 
lines.  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  from  the  mid- 
Pacific,  writes  essays  that  are  full  of  Scrip- 
ture. Hawthorne,  the  American  writer  of 
fiction,  whose  "Great  Stone  Face"  is  a  figure 
of  the  soul  becoming  like  its  Lord,  gives  the 
Bible  and  "Pilgrim's  Progress"  as  the  main 
sources  of  his  inspiration.  Macauley's  use  of 
Scripture  is  familiar  to  every  student.  Ed- 
mund Burke,  the  political  philosopher  of 
England,  read  some  appropriate  Scripture  be- 
fore making  any  speech  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. Charles  Dickens,  who  is  the  nearest 
to  perfection  in  character  delineation,  said 
that  the  most  touching  story  in  literature  is 
the  story  of  the  Prodigal  Son.  Ernest  Renan, 
the  brilliant  French  infidel,  although  trying  to 
rob  Jesus  Christ  of  his  divinity,  says  that  the 
Gospel  of  Luke  is  the  most  beautiful  story  of 
the  world.  Doctor  Spoffbrd,  for  years  libra- 
rian of  Congress,  who  opposed  making  a  cata- 
logue of  the  books  in  the  Congressional 
Library,    being    able    unaided    to    point    out 


62  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

almost  any  subject  or  reference  desired  in  that 
bewildering  array  of  books,  testified  as  fol- 
lows: "The  Bible,  considered  merely  as  liter- 
ature, without  any  regard  to  its  doctrines,  has 
more  strong,  nervous  English,  more  pathos, 
more  sublimity,  more  pith  and  power  than  any 
other  work  in  our  language."  President 
Schurman,  of  Cornell  University,  says:  "The 
Bible  is  the  most  important  document  in  the 
world's  history.  No  man  can  be  wholly  uned- 
ucated who  really  knows  the  Bible,  nor  can 
any  one  be  considered  a  truly  educated  man 
who  is  ignorant  of  it."  No  one  will  charge 
Doctor  Schurman  with  being  unduly  preju- 
diced in  favor  of  God's  Word.  With  these 
testimonies,  how  can  any  one  lay  claim  to 
scholarly  attainments  who  eliminates  the  Bible 
from  the  curriculum  of  his  study?  Certainly 
it  is  indispensable  to  intellectual  culture. 

Philosophy  is  the  most  sublime  of  all 
studies.  If  in  earth,  by  preeminence,  there  is 
nothing  great  but  man,  and  if,  by  pre- 
eminence, too,  in  man  there  is  nothing  great 
but  mind,  the  best  work  of  the  best  minds 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  63 

demands  attention.  Man  always  has  asked 
whence  he  came,  and  why ;  what  he  is,  and 
why  he  is  not  something  else;  whither  he  is 
going,  and  whether  he  could  do  otherwise ; 
what  his  final  condition  will  be,  and  whether 
it  will  be  marked  by  change  or  permanency; 
whether  consciousness  shall  persevere  while 
one  crosses  the  great  divide,  or  extinction 
overtake  the  soul ;  whether  in  the  former  case 
a  life  of  regulation  is  worth  the  effort,  or  is 
a  burning  of  energy  to  no  purpose ;  whether, 
in  the  latter  case,  joy  and  sorrow  are  fixed 
and  everlasting,  or  yet  under  control  of  an 
independent  will;  whether  a  life  shall  rein- 
carnate itself  in  a  second  life,  or  pass  through 
this  world  but  once ;  and,  finally,  what  the 
relation  of  the  created  soul  is  to  its  Creator. 
These  questions  concern  man  as  man.  They 
overtop  physics,  and  ascend  above  metaphysics, 
and  touch  the  eternal  verities.  Man  unaided 
has  groped  in  darkness,  floundered  in  per- 
plexity, and  died  in  despair.  But  the  Bible 
lets  in  the  light.  Other  books  have  pretended 
to  dispel  darkness,  but  only  the  Bible's  philos- 


64  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

ophy  satisfies  the  soul.  In  some  way  one  is 
driven  to  the  conclusion  that  the  author  of  the 
one  is  the  creator  of  the  other,  and  that  he 
made  the  two  to  fit  together.  It  is  folly  to 
study  Weber  or  Schwegler  from  cover  to 
cover  and  conclude  that  one  knows  the  begin- 
ning and  the  end  of  philosophy. 

More  and  more  are  the  teachers  coming 
back  to  the  Bible  to  learn  wisdom.  The  best 
educators  say  that  the  underlying  principles 
of  pedagogy  are  in  the  New  Testament,  and 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  supreme  in  his  methods  of 
leading  the  mind  from  the  known  to  the  un- 
known. 

The  crowning  of  the  king  is  fresh  in  mind. 
England  has  a  Parliament  of  two  branches,  far 
removed  from  the  absolutism  of  monarchy. 
The  Hebrew  commonwealth  was  the  first 
government  on  the  face  of  the  globe  to  put 
any  restriction  upon  the  power  of  a  mon- 
archy ;  and  the  student  of  political  economy 
ought  to  read  the  Bible  enough  to  know  that. 
We  believe  in  a  legislative  department,  not- 
withstanding  its   abuse   in    States   or   United 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  65 

States.  The  Hebrews  were  the  first  people 
to  have  a  popular  assembly  of  this  kind ;  and 
students  of  history  ought  to  know  it.  The 
unreliability  of  officials  has  created  a  demand 
for  the  initiative  and  referendum  method  of 
making  laws,  in  addition  to  the  general  fran- 
chise. The  Hebrews  were  the  first  to  ask  the 
judgment  of  the  people  in  a  general  election; 
and  statesmen  of  our  age  should  know  it. 
Our  own  government,  following  England  in 
part,  has  three  general  branches,  executive, 
legislative,  and  judicial.  The  Hebrews  were 
centuries  ahead  of  us  in  this  system ;  and  his- 
torians should  acquaint  themselves  with  the 
fact.  Our  Declaration  of  Independence  as- 
serts that  it  is  a  self-evident  fact  that  all  men 
are  created  equal.  The  Hebrew  nation  was 
the  first  to  prohibit  class  or  caste  distinction; 
and  our  sociologists  should  take  account  of  it. 
We  take  pride  in  our  system  of  free  schools 
for  the  poor  and  the  rich.  The  Hebrew  com- 
monwealth was  the  first  to  make  any  pro- 
vision for  popular  instruction ;  and  our  pres- 
ent-day   educators    should    discover   it.      The 


66  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

Bible  is  the  mine  of  gold  whence  come  all  these 
nuggets  of  truth,  and  the  man  who  longs  for 
a  liberal  education  should  recognize  it. 

President  Grant  gave  us  good  advice :  "Hold 
fast  to  the  Bible  as  the  sheet  anchor  of  your 
liberties.  Write  its  precepts  on  your  hearts 
and  practice  them  in  your  lives.  To  the  influ- 
ence of  this  book  we  are  indebted  for  the 
progress  made  in  true  civilization,  and  to  this 
we  must  look  as  our  guide  in  the  future." 
Garibaldi  spoke  a  parallel  truth :  "The  best 
of  allies  you  can  procure  for  us  is  the  Bible. 
That  will  bring  us  the  reality  of  our  freedom." 

From  the  point  of  history,  there  is  a  section 
of  land  lying  between  the  Mediterranean  Sea 
and  the  Jordan  River  which  is  as  rich  in 
records  and  human  action  as  any  other  place 
which  receives  rain  from  the  clouds  and  sun- 
shine from  the  heavens.  The  unspeakable 
Turk  is  its  modern  curse.  Many  of  its  low- 
lands are  waste  and  its  hills  desolation. 
Though  small,  and  poor,  and  mistreated,  and 
covered  with  'the  rubbish  of  nineteen  cen- 
turies,  this   naturally   uninviting  place   is   the 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  67 

center  of  attraction  for  travelers,  and  more 
tourists  seek  it  than  any  other  place  in  the 
world.  Out  of  the  districts,  take  one;  out  of 
the  multiplicity  of  cities,  take  one ;  out  of  the 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days  in  the  year, 
take  one.  Come  to  this  city  on  this  day.  Situ- 
ated on  an  eminence,  commanding  all  the  sur- 
rounding country,  Jerusalem,  which  is  the 
preeminent  city  of  the  Bible,  and  which  is 
preeminently  a  city  of  the  Bible,  has  the  his- 
torical significance  of  being  subjected  to  more 
sieges  than  any  other  city  of  all  the  world. 

On  this  special  day  the  narrow  and  crooked 
streets  are  thronged  with  people,  strangers, 
and  sojourners,  from  all  parts  of  the  country 
itself,  from  Egypt,  from  Greece,  from  Russia, 
from  Turkey,  from  Asia  Minor.  Some  have 
come  by  caravan,  some  afoot,  and  some 
scarcely  could  tell  how  they  came.  It  is  the 
one  great  festival  of  the  Greek  and  Armenian 
Catholic  churches.  The  patriarch  of  the  one 
and  the  high  priest  of  the  other  march  side  by 
side,  each  fearing  to  gain  a  step  on  the  other 
lest  the  jealousy  of  their  respective  followers 


68  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

carry  them  to  riot  and  murder.  Leading  a 
motley  procession  of  twenty  thousand,  gath- 
ered from  everywhere,  they  approach  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  where  the 
frenzied  throng  jams  into  a  mass,  every  one 
carrying  a  torch  which  he  expects  to  be  lighted 
by  the  miracle  of  the  sacred  fire. 

Hear  the  chant  in  the  language  of  the  vari- 
ous countries  :  "Oh,  Jew  !  Oh,  Jew  !  Your 
feast  is  a  feast  of  devils.  Our  feast  is  a  feast 
of  rejoicing."  Then  hear  them  shriek,  "This 
is  the  tomb  of  our  Lord."  The  chants,  the 
shouts,  the  shrieks,  the  hurling  of  defiance  at 
one  another,  the  Turkish  soldiers  necessary 
to  preserve  moderate  peace  and  prevent  flying 
at  the  throats  of  the  opposite  party,  fanatics 
rushing  hither  and  thither  with  their  torches 
lighted  by  fraudulent  fire — what  do  they  all 
mean?  There  is  general  concert  of  answer 
that  superstition  and  frenzy  are  responsible 
for  the  ceremonies  on  the  Greek  Easter  day. 
Perhaps  they  are  for  the  character  of  the  cele- 
bration, but  not  for  the  celebration  itself. 
These  exercises,  curious  or  repellant  as  they 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  69 

may  be,  have  a  basis  in  history.  On  a  certain 
day  of  a  certain  year,  a  certain  man  was 
crucified  on  a  Roman  cross,  after  having  been 
convicted  in  a  Roman  court.  He  was  sup- 
posed to  be  dead  and  was  buried;  but,  on  the 
third  day  after,  all  the  city,  even  his  closest 
friends,  was  amazed  at  the  report  that  he  had 
risen  from  the  rock  tomb  in  which  his  body 
had  been  placed,  and  which  was  fastened  with 
the  government  seal  lest  those  who  loved  him 
might  steal  his  body.  One  act,  attributed  to 
one  man,  performed  in  one  city,  has  given  that 
city  everlasting  interest  and  renown,  has  be- 
come the  basis  of  the  religious  faith  of  king- 
doms and  empires,  and  has  constituted  the 
man  himself  worthy  to  sway  the  scepter  of 
spiritual  power  and  wear  the  crown  of 
divinity. 

Cut  out  sentiment  and  strike  history.  It 
took  one  race,  transplanted  into  this  section, 
above  twenty-one  hundred  years  to  reach  the 
crucial  point  and  produce  the  crucial  man. 
Our  own  brief  history  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five  years  of  independence  is  worthy  of 


70  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

volumes.  But,  from  the  time  that  Abraham 
crossed  the  plains  westward  till  the  time  that 
Pilate  pronounced  the  death  sentence,  there  is 
a  span  of  fifteen  times  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  years.  America  has  not  yet  produced  a 
man  at  whose  shrine  any  pilgrim  worships. 
With  all  respect  to  Mrs.  Eddy,  it  has  not  yet 
reared  such  a  woman.  No  era  takes  its  be- 
ginning from  the  day  any  of  America's  sons 
first  drew  breath.  Our  temples  are  reared  to 
the  one  who  made  Palestine  famous.  Suppose 
an  Englishman  should  lay  claim  to  a  liberal 
education  who  does  not  know  about  the  found- 
ing of  Jamestown  or  the  Revolutionary  War. 
His  claim  would  be  a  joke,  however  much  he 
might  desire  that  the  historian's  pen  had  writ- 
ten something  else.  But  this  little  section 
lived  and  wrought  while  America  was  un- 
known. It  multiplies  our  authentic  records 
by  five,  our  independent  history  by  fifteen, 
and  our  influence  upon  the  world  by  an  inde- 
terminable number.  If  a  knowledge  of  Amer- 
ica must  enter  into  a  liberal  education,  how 
much   more   an    acquaintance    with   the    land 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  71 

between  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Jordan? 
And  this  history  is  found  first  in  the  Bible. 
The  political  fortunes  of  the  kings  and  dynas- 
ties, and  the  victorious  tread  of  surrounding 
militant  nations,  are  recorded  with  an  accu- 
racy that  challenges  admiration  and  investi- 
gation. And  in  no  land  has  the  revelation  of 
spade,  and  monument,  and  papyri  been  of 
such  striking  corroborative  value.  The  history 
in  the  Bible  is  stamped  as  reliable,  and  the 
repudiators  have  suffered  repudiation.  A  lib- 
erally educated  man  could  not  afford  to  be 
ignorant  of  an  important  national  humbug, 
not  to  mention  accurate  records  of  a  people 
which  have  stamped  their  customs  and  beliefs 
upon  the  race  of  mankind  beyond  any  other 
in  the  world's  history. 

But  Jerusalem  was  only  a  center.  There 
was  a  circle  and  an  area.  What  is  true  of 
the  center  is  true  of  the  expanding  area  as 
each  concentric  circle  was  added  by  the  con- 
quest of  the  Cross.  The  Nile  Valley,  as  rich 
in  historic  treasure  as  in  the  fertility  of  its 
soil,  touches  the  great  characters  of  the  Bible 


72  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

while  they  are  laying  the  foundations  of  a 
race ;  and  again,  when  the  hope  of  the  race 
was  born ;  and  between  these  two  events,  the 
sojourn  and  the  haven,  when  alliances  were 
made  for  political  effect.  But  Egypt  became 
more  closely  identified  with  religious  influ- 
ences later,  when  her  cities  were  Christian 
centers,  when  her  scholars  had  the  ear  of  all 
mankind,  when  she  presented  the  world  with 
a  Greek  Bible  to  match  the  Hebrew  which  had 
grown  up  around  Jerusalem.  If  a  liberal  edu- 
cation must  cut  out  the  Bible,  it  must  cut 
out  Egypt. 

Asia  Minor  lies  to  the  north  and  west.  The 
life  of  one  man  linked  Tarsus  and  its  great 
university  to  Jerusalem  and  its  rabbinical 
schools.  The  very  turbulence  of  its  people 
wrote  rapid  annals.  It  was  joined  to  Pales- 
tine by  a  northwest  highway,  as  Egypt  was  by 
a  southwest.  No  one  can  write  the  history  of 
Ephesus,  and  Antioch,  and  Colosse,  and  the 
region  of  Galatia  without  connecting  all  these 
places  most  closely  with  the  Bible. 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  73 

The  Easter  ceremony  at  Jerusalem  to-day 
is  an  enigma  unless  one  takes  account  of  all 
the  civilizations  which  have  chased  one  an- 
other over  Asia  Minor.  The  military  cam- 
paigns of  George  Washington  are  not  better 
substantiated  than  the  religious  work  of  the 
Apostle  Paul  in  Little  Asia.  But  here  again 
the  Bible  leads,  and  other  sources  corroborate. 
If  a  liberal  education  includes  a  knowledge  of 
the  peoples,  and  the  politics,  and  the  basic  re- 
ligious principles  of  Asia  Minor,  it  must  in- 
clude a  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  Otherwise, 
history  is  a  lie,  and  philosophy  is  falsely  so 
called. 

Nor  can  one  understand  the  conquests  of 
Assyria,  the  annals  of  Babylon,  or  the  chron- 
icles of  Persia  without  knowing  what  the 
Scriptures  say  about  these  respective  nations. 
When  countries  are  overrun,  and  cities  be- 
sieged, and  capitals  taken,  and  captives  en- 
slaved in  the  land  of  their  conquerors,  the 
philosophy  of  history  both  unravels  the  con- 
nections of  nations  and  investigates  why  their 
paths  crossed  and  recrossed.     \{  we  subtract 


74  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

the  Bible  from  a  liberal  education,  Asia  con- 
tributes little  that  is  worth  while,  and  it  pro- 
vides no  means  for  tying  the  fragments  to- 
gether. 

Perhaps  Europe  will  return  more  satisfac- 
tion to  the  would-be  scholar  who  would  banish 
the  Book  which  makes  his  scholarship  pos- 
sible. The  military  campaigns  of  Alexander 
the  Great  are  not  as  important  as  the  spiritual 
campaigns  of  Paul  the  Little,  as  measured  by 
the  way  they  have  changed  maps  and  minds. 
That  wave  of  humanity  which  rolled  south- 
west over  Europe  from  the  plains  of  Iran 
and  filled  up  the  peninsular  pocket  of  Greece, 
has  not  had  as  great  influence  on  the  continent 
of  Europe  as  the  preaching  of  a  certain  mis- 
sionary and  his  helpers  who  traversed  the  same 
country  and  planted  in  its  chief  cities  the 
seeds  of  a  nobler  life.  That  subsequent 
migration  of  people  from  no  one  knows  where, 
which  filled  up  the  boot  of  Italy  and  started 
the  race  of  Rome,  grew  into  world  importance 
as  Rome  came  in  contact  with  higher  things 
when  she  superseded  Greece  as  mistress  of  the 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  75 

world.  This  is  another  instance  of  the  con- 
queror conquered,  for  the  edict  of  Constantine 
had  its  foundation  in  a  leavening  of  the  na- 
tion years  before.  No  one  can  cut  Constantine 
the  Great  out  of  history.  Making  all  due  al- 
lowance for  misinterpretation  of  signs,  and 
mixed  motives,  and  paths  that  swerved  from 
the  accepted  standard  of  modern  times,  we 
can  endorse  the  assertion  of  John  Foxe  that 
he  was  a  second  Moses.  Fighting  under  the 
cross  of  Christ,  he  vanquished  the  persecu- 
tors of  the  Christians  in  Rome  who  had  been 
at  such  task  for  three  hundred  years.  The 
peace  he  established  was  so  firm  and  so  lasting 
that  for  a  thousand  years  there  was  no  set  per- 
secution against  the  Christians,  and  they  en- 
joyed peace  till  the  morning  star  of  the  Refor- 
mation arose  in  the  person  of  John  Wyckliffe. 
What  is  Roman  history  worth  without  an  ac- 
count of  the  valorous  deeds  of  Constantine? 
And  what  is  Constantine  apart  from  the  Bible 
and  the  Christ  of  the  Bible? 

On  continental  Europe  the  Reformation  led 
by  Martin  Luther  is  more  significant  than  the 


76  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

taming  of  the  wild  German  in  the  time  of 
Tacitus,  and  his  father-in-law,  Agricola ;  more 
important  than  warring  with  France  over 
boundary  lines ;  more  important  than  royal 
intermarriages  and  the  consequent  conduct  of 
the  state.  The  abuse  of  Biblical  interpretation 
and  the  arrogation  to  priests  of  powers  de- 
nied, followed  by  an  unselfish  reading  of  the 
Bible  and  the  incorporation  of  its  principles 
into  the  rules  of  life  and  conduct,  gave  the 
German  empire  its  present  state  religion ;  and 
this  has  been  the  greatest  fact  and  factor  in 
her  history  in  the  last  five  hundred  years 
When  Martin  Luther,  the  Augustinian  monk, 
blazed  the  way,  other  countries  followed. 
Switzerland  came  along,  and  Scandinavia,  and 
Bohemia,  and  England,  and  there  was  a  toning 
up  both  of  the  Roman  and  Greek  Catholic 
churches,  with  respective  headquarters  in 
Italy  and  Russia,  lest  the  fires  of  revolt  should 
spread  everywhere.  God,  working  on  the 
hearts  of  men,  through  the  Bible,  is  the  chief 
maker  of  European  history. 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  77 

England  passed  through  fiery  trials,  as  did 
Scotland.  And  the  chief  source  of  trouble 
was  an  attempt  to  override  the  conscience  of 
men.  This  met  opposition  from  an  inherent 
sense  of  right  and  privilege.  When  the  peo- 
ple saw  that  the  Bible  supported  them  in  their 
ideas  of  spiritual  freedom,  the  same  Bible 
which  their  oppressors  claimed  to  follow,  they 
demanded  their  own.  The  tyranny  of  false 
principles  was  ended  only  with  the  martyrdom 
of  those  who  stood  for  the  truth,  and  by  the 
courage  which  then  rose  in  the  human  heart. 
England  has  an  established  church,  and  she 
has  those  which  refuse  to  conform  to  its  teach- 
ings. These  religious  differences  are  at  the 
foundation  of  her  history,  and  so  inwrought 
into  her  annals  that  they  form,  as  it  were,  the 
architect's  blue  prints  of  her  historical  struc- 
ture. On  June  22,  her  new  king  was  crowned, 
but  that  priceless  crown  of  precious  stones 
was  placed  on  the  head  of  King  George  by 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  closest  pos- 
sible linking  of  the  Bible  and  the  throne.     If 


78  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

a  liberal  education  does  not-  include  the  Bible, 
it  has  nothing  of  consequence  from  England. 

Persecution  in  so-called  Christian  countries 
is  in  spite  of  their  Christianity,  not  in  conse- 
quence of  it.  Narrow  men, cannot  brook  liber- 
ality. America  was  peopled  by  colonies  from 
different  European  countries  because  those 
colonies  did  not  have  the  Bible  freedom  in 
their  native  homes.  The  Pilgrims  of  Massa- 
chusetts, the  Baptists  of  Rhode  Island,  the 
Quakers  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Huguenots 
of  Georgia  could  join  hands  and  sing  the  same 
song  of  gratitude  and  praise  for  a  haven  of 
refuge  from  tyrants  here  and  despots  there. 
They  wanted  the  privilege  of  worshiping  God 
according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  sensi- 
tive consciences.  The  Bible  was  the  universal 
book  in  their  possession.  Take  it  away  and 
the  historical  foundation  of  our  country 
crumbles.  We  have  effects  without  causes, 
and  history  without  philosophy.  From  the 
beginning  the  moral  force  of  the  Word  of 
God  has  supported  the  right  in  legislative,  ex- 
ecutive, and  judicial  life,  and  equally  has  pro- 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  79 

tested  against  the  wrong.  The  strongest  argu- 
ment against  an  official  act  in  our  own  day  is 
that  it  crosses  the  rights  of  the  people ;  and  the 
rights  of  the  people  are  determined  more  from 
the  Bible  than  by  all  other  works  of  authority 
combined. 

The  scope  of  this  theme  is  limited  only  by 
the  civilization  of  the  Christian  era.  Beyond 
that  there  is  opportunity  for  contrast.  China 
has  hoary  locks,  but  the  shape  of  her  head  is 
the  same  as  thirty  centuries  ago.  The  Bed- 
ouins in  part  are  said  to  be  the  lineal  descend- 
ants of  the  Herods  who  opposed  the  Christ, 
who,  it  is  claimed,  were  the  direct  descend- 
ants of  Esau — the  son  that  went  off  into  the 
desert  apart  from  the  benign  influence  of  the 
gospel  and  the  gospel  peoples.  Persistence 
of  low  ideals  and  wrong  ideas  characterizes  a 
nation  separated  from  the  Bible.  Its  history 
is  a  long,  deep  rut.  Those  peoples  who  are 
blessed  with  the  Bible  do  things  worth  while, 
and  the  presence  of  the  divine  Book  is  the 
only  apparent  explanation. 


80  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

Here  an  objector  may  ask  about  the  ante- 
Christian  civilizations.  Doubtless  he  will  name 
Greece  as  the  most  illustrious  example,  and 
cite  the  supremacy  of  Athens  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury before  Christ.  Here  was  a  height  of 
splendor  and  magnificence.  Art,  sculpture, 
literature,  philosophy,  architecture  rose  beyond 
anything  antecedent,  some  of  them  above  any- 
thing subsequent.  Why  should  it  be  so  in  the 
absence  of  the  Bible?  We  must  remember 
that  Greece  had  some  leaders  at  this  period 
who  approximated  Christian  principles  more 
nearly  than  any  other  set  of  men  in  any  coun- 
try at  any  time.  Socrates  was  a  high-class 
moral  philosopher,  so  far  ahead  of  his  age 
that  he  traveled  the  hemlock  route  to  his 
grave.  Plato,  his  pupil,  was  a  copious  writer 
on  morals  and  questions  of  state.  Some  think 
these  teachers  had  knowledge  of  parts  of  the 
Old  Testament.  Their  attainments  may  have 
been  the  result  of  ready  response  to  the  voice 
of  God  in  the  soul.  Whatever  the  truth, 
Greece  made  her  best  history  when  running  a 
course  nearest  parallel  to  the  Bible  path.    Had 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  81 

the  Bible  been  followed,  a  greater  value  would 
have  been  placed  upon  the  individual  as  the 
unit  of  the  state,  and  the  ideal  republic  of 
Plato  would  have  had  more  room  for  the  finer 
feelings  of  a  cultured  and  considerate  people. 
China  in  the  days  of  Confucius  is  a  less 
conspicuous  example,  but  the  conclusions  one 
draws  are  similar  to  the  foregoing.  Egypt 
falls  naturally  into  the  same  class. 

The  obvious  conclusion  from  a  running  sur- 
vey of  the  history  of  the  best  nations  is  that 
there  is  a  difference  between  a  Bible  people 
and  a  people  deprived  of  the  Bible — a  differ- 
ence in  action,  in  thought,  in  life;  and  that  the 
Bible  is  the  cause  of  the  difference.  Further, 
that  the  great  turning  points  and  the  forward 
movements  in  a  nation  favored  with  the  pos- 
session of  the  Scriptures  come  from  a  better 
interpretation  of  the  Word  and  the  resultant 
effort  to  put  the  enlarged  knowledge  in  vital 
connection  with  human  life  and  conduct.  The 
bibliocentric  idea  of  all  the  history  that  is 
worth  while  is  correct,  and  he  who  lays  claim 
to  a  broad   education   without   including  the 


82  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

Scriptures  is  guilty  of  false  pretenses,  and  is 
playing  a  huge  joke  upon  himself,  for  the 
Bible  is  the  most  potent  factor  in  all  history. 

If  it  is  impossible  to  gain  a  fairly  compre- 
hensive knowledge  of  ancient  language  and 
literature,  of  modern  language  and  literature, 
of  philosophy  and  education,  of  history  and 
political  science,  not  to  mention  art,  of  which 
biblical  themes  and  persons  are  the  very  soul, 
without  including  the  Bible  in  the  curriculum, 
why  not  count  it  in  ?  Why  should  it  not  have 
a  larger  place  in  our  homes  ?  Why  should  cer- 
tain men,  banded  together,  try  to  get  it  out  of 
the  Sunday  school  and  substitute  something 
else?  Why  should  a  supreme  court  or  two 
deny  the  Bible  a  place  in  the  public  school? 
It  ought  to  be  the  first  text-book  selected,  and 
used  in  every  grade.  It  should  have  a  well- 
defined  place  in  every  college. 

Infidels,  Jews,  and  Roman  Catholics,  with 
intensity  in  the  order  named,  are  uniting  to 
secure  the  exclusion  of  the  Bible  from  our 
public  schools.  The  highest  tribunal  of  Illi- 
nois, because  of  a  case  carried  up  from  Win- 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  83 

Chester  by  Catholics,  decreed  its  expulsion. 
At  the  same  time  a  State  law  requires  that  the 
Bible  be  furnished  every  penitentiary  convict 
at  State  expense ;  and  the  convict  is  the  only 
one  that  the  State  is  caring  for  in  such  a  way. 
If  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures  is  a  good  agent 
in  the  reformation  of  the  criminal,  why  should 
it  be  regarded  as  destructive  of  morals  or 
inimical  to  the  common  good  when  placed  in 
the  schoolroom? 

The  question  implied  in  the  subject  reap- 
pears at  the  close,  "Can  one  gain  a  liberal  edu- 
cation without  a  study  of  the  Bible  ?"  The  im- 
mediate, and  emphatic,  and  indisputable  answer 
is,  "No,"  a  thousand  times  over.  If  one  be- 
lieves in  form  without  substance,  in  outline 
without  reality,  in  pretense  without  fulfillment, 
he  may  believe  that  ignorance  of  the  chief  in- 
fluence for  education  is  compatible  with  educa- 
tion itself.  But  he  who  is  accustomed  to  display 
the  wisdom  of  the  average  man  outside  the 
asylum,  or  indeed  inside  its  walls,  will  detect 
the  deception  of  the  mirage,  place  his  seal 
only  on  the  realities,  and  give  the  Bible,  the 


84  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

mainstay  of  education,  its  fundamental  place 
therein.  And  he  will  see  that  it  reinforces  the 
entire  superstructure,  while  the  God  of  the 
Bible  becomes  the  God  of  his  life,  and  Jesus 
Christ  his  personal  Savior,  his  everlasting 
King. 


The  Bible  and  Spirituality. 

WHAT  is  spirituality?  Is  the  Bible 
a  factor  in  the  production  of  spirit- 
uality and  a  force  in  its  cultivation  ? 
If  so,  how,  and  to  what  extent?  On  what 
foundation  is  spirituality  based,  and  what  is 
the  height  of  its  spire?  Is  the  function  of 
the  Bible  at  an  end  when  spirituality  is  at- 
tained ? 

Human  life  is  the  vitality  resulting  from 
the  union  of  the  body  and  soul.  The  body  is 
gifted  with  the  powers  of  sensation  and  volun- 
tary and  involuntary  motion ;  that  is,  it  can 
feel  pain,  and  it  moves  at  will  if  not  externally 
constrained,  and  at  times  moves  without  in- 
tending to.  The  soul,  used  in  the  sense  of 
mind,  is  gifted  with  the  powers  of  intellectual- 
ity, of  emotionality,  and  of  free  will ;  that  is, 
it  can  think,  and  perform  other  mental  pro- 
cesses dependent  upon  thought,  such  as  mem- 
ory, comparison,  and  judgment;  it  can  feel, 
as  does  the  body,  having  the  sensation  of  joy 

85 


86  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

and  pleasure,  grief  and  remorse;  and  it  can 
do  as  it  pleases,  whatever  external  constraint 
may  be  attempted. 

Spiritual  life  results  from  giving  God  the 
control  and  making  him  the  inspiration  of  the 
human  life.  Spirtuality,  then,  from  the  men- 
tal side,  is  heavenly-mindedness.  Thus  far 
it  is  the  state  of  the  disciples  in  Gethsemane, 
whose  spirit  was  willing.  But  spirituality 
touches  that  part  of  human  life  represented 
by  the  body,  and  puts  strength  in  weakness 
by  bringing  the  passions  and  propensions  of 
the  body  into  subjection  to  a  higher  power. 
This  goes  beyond  the  garden  disciples,  whose 
spirit  was  willing  but  whose  flesh  was  weak. 
Spirituality  is  the  outbreathing,  the  manifesta- 
tion of  a  nature  made  over  by  contact  with 
God.  As  heavenly-mindedness,  it  fulfills  the 
condition,  "If  ye  then  be  risen  with  Christ." 
But  as  heavenly-heartedness  it  appears  in  the 
command,  "Seek  those  things  which  are 
above." 

Anything  which  affects  the  body,  the  mind, 
and  the  soul  in  a  vital  way  is  deserving  of 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  87 

attention.  Spirituality  is  that  thing.  It  im- 
plies a  transformation  of  life,  which  gives  the 
body  third  place  instead  of  first,  rebuking  alike 
the  pagan  who  puts  the  body  first  and  the 
ascetic  monk  who  gives  it  no  place  at  all.  It 
fixes  habits  of  thought  after  a  divine  model, 
in  some  respects  transcending  Greek  philos- 
ophy as  well  as  congenital  imbecility.  It  places 
the  total  excellency  of  man  in  a  reasonable, 
thinking,  immortal  soul,  with  its  moral  and 
spiritual  possibilities,  and  impels  man  to  seek 
there  that  imperishable  excellence  of  charac- 
ter. Spirituality  links  the  soul  of  man  to 
heaven  as  gravity  links  his  body  to  the  earth. 
Where,  then,  does  the  Bible  come  in?  First, 
it  gives  instruction  in  the  way  of  life.  The 
best  that  paganism  can  offer  is  plunder,  and 
rapine,  and  murder,  and  lust,  and  slavery, 
and  cannibalism,  and  degredation.  Any  spir- 
ituality here?  No,  because  no  Bible  is  here. 
The  best  that  Phoenicians  and  Ammonites  can 
afford  is  an  idol  to  hold  children  sacrificed 
alive  by  parents  who  mistake  both  the  purpose 
and    the   privilege    of    life.      Any    spirituality 


88  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

here?  No,  inhumanity,  because  no  Bible  is 
here.  The  best  that  Shintoism  can  offer  is 
ancestor  reverence  and  a  superstitious  regard 
for  the  forces  of  nature ;  but  again  the  absence 
of  the  Bible  forbids  the  presence  of  spiritual- 
ity. The  best  in  Confucianism  is  moral  pre- 
cepts ;  but  these  stop  short  of  spirituality  for 
the  reason  already  thrice  stated.  Buddhism 
is  a  religion  of  fatalism,  whose  best,  combined 
with  the  best  in  Shintoism,  can  make  men 
brave  and  reckless  at  Port  Arthur,  and  203 
Meter  Hill,  but  it  cannot  produce  spirituality. 
Mohammedanism  can  slaughter  enemies,  and 
put  women  lower  than  brute  beasts,  but  it  is 
as  devoid  of  spirituality  as  brass  heavens  are 
of  rain;  for  the  Koran  is  not  the  Bible. 

When  the  Bible  is  denied  to  the  masses,  as 
is  the  case  where  Roman  Catholicism  has  its 
way,  notably  in  South  America,  the  church  is 
chiefly  baptized  paganism,  and  many  of  the 
priests  are  fathers  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name. 
Whatever  may  be  the  explanation,  a  general 
circulation  of  the  Scriptures,  followed  by  a 
free  reading,  always  goes  in  advance  and  re- 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  89 

mains  to  accompany  any  marked  national 
heavenly-mindedness.  The  only  rational  ex- 
planation is  that  the  Bible  contains  instruction 
along  the  line  of  man's  best  nature,  and  that 
in  this  particular,  other  cults,  and  religions,  and 
sacred  books  fail.  As  knowledge  of  agricul- 
ture is  essential  to  good  farming,  and  knowl- 
edge of  business  necessary  to  accurate 
bookeeping,  so  a  knowledge  of  the  Bible  is 
required    that    spirituality    may    flourish. 

Secondly,  the  Bible  creates  a  desire  to 
emulate  Jesus  Christ.  No  mind  capable  of 
understanding  the  Scriptures  is  able  to  force 
itself  to  despise  the  Son  of  God.  In  him  we 
expect  spirituality  to  be  at  its  height.  Hold- 
ing a  copy  of  the  Word  in  his  hand,  he  yet 
may  say,  "These  are  they  which  testify  of 
me."  That  testimony,  satisfied  by  his  actual 
life,  commands  our  mental  assent,  even  though 
we  withhold  a  formal  allegiance  and  refuse  a 
worshipful  adoration. 

In  a  well-known  city  lives  a  Chinese 
laundryman.  One  of  his  patrons  became  in- 
terested   in    his    spiritual    welfare,    and    pre- 


90  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

sented  him  a  Chinese  New  Testament.  It  was 
his  first  glimpse  into  the  Book  of  books.  He 
read  the  gospels  carefully,  thoughtfully.  A 
few  days  later  his  friend  met  him  and  asked 
his  opinion  of  the  book.  "Jesu,  fine  man, 
fine  man,"  was  the  laundryman's  reply.  It 
reminds  one  of  the  verdict  inadvertently  pro- 
nounced upon  the  character  of  Christ  by  two 
of  his  contemporaries,  at  least  one  of  whom 
had  the  privilege  of  personal  contact  with 
the  sinless  One.  Mrs.  Pontius  Pilate  said, 
"Have  nothing  to  do  with  this  just  man." 
Out  of  the  anxiety  of  her  heart,  her  cry  was 
that  of  the  Chinaman  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury, "Jesu,  fine  man."  The  old  Roman 
governor  himself  said,  "I  find  no  fault  in 
him."  That  was  Pontius  Pilate's  "Jesu,  fine 
man."  Judas  Iscariot,  even  his  hardened 
conscience  seared  with  the  brand  of  murder, 
under  the  pain  of  condemnation,  confessed  to 
his  purchasers,  "I  have  betrayed  innocent 
blood."  From  the  very  gates  of  hell,  wrung 
from  the  lips  of  a  man  whose  hardened  heart 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  91 

had  begun  to  feel  the  very  piercing  of  the 
sword,  came  the  betrayer's  "Jesu,  fine  man." 

Group  together  Isaiah  in  that  vision  which 
revealed  himself  to  himself  because  he  saw 
the  King;  Simeon,  who  was  ready  to  depart 
because  his  eyes  had  beheld  the  salvation  of 
the  Lord;  Paul,  who  was  halted  by  the  ob- 
ject of  his  persecution  before  Damascus  was 
reached ;  John,  whose  loneliness  on  the  Isle  of 
Patmos  was  banished  farther  than  he  himself 
had  been  because  he  looked  into  heaven  and 
saw  Him  whose  vesture  was  inscribed  "King 
of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords" ;  add  the  wise 
men  from  the  east  whose  guide  was  a  star  of 
heaven,  and  include  the  host  whose  song  on 
the  Judean  plains  was  a  transfer  of  the  melody 
of  heaven  to  a  favored  spot  below,  and  the 
substance  of  every  expression  of  esteem,  every 
estimate  of  value,  every  ascription  of  praise 
is,  "Jesus,  fine  man,  fine  man."  "These  are 
they  which  testify  of  me." 

"Jesu,  fine  man,"  puts  in  other  hearts  a  de- 
sire for  true  nobility.  We  crave  to  become 
more  like  our  ideals.    The  laundryman  paid  a 


92  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

hundred  dollars  toward  the  construction  of  a 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  building. 
He  was  becoming  like  the  one  who  possessed 
all  the  riches  of  heaven,  but  who,  for  the  sake 
of  poverty-stricken  men,  gave  up  all,  that  they, 
through  his  poverty,  might  become  rich.  Who 
is  he  that  is  honest  but  does  not  wish  he  had 
the  honesty  of  Christ?  What  man  of  nobility 
does  not  crave  the  character  of  his  Savior? 
What  righteous  follower  would  not  be  as  sin- 
less as  his  divine  example?  What  spiritually- 
minded  Christian  does  not  long  and  pray  for 
a  mind  more  heavenly  and  a  heart  more  holy 
than  he  possesses — in  other  words,  to  be  more 
like  the  Son  of  God? 

Directly  or  indirectly,  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
inspiration  of  every  life  which  has  inspiration, 
the  hope  of  every  man  who  is  buoyed  up  with 
the  hope,  the  redeemer  of  every  soul  that  has 
experienced  redemption,  the  instructor  of 
every  pupil  that  has  learned  to  sing  the  new 
song,  the  fountain  of  youth,  the  mainstay  of 
character,  and  the  elixir  of  life. 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  93 

Thirdly,  the  Bible  assures  the  devout  reader 
of  progress  in  Christian  life.  Every  gracious 
promise  in  the  Word  is  conditional.  The  word 
"devout"  is  used  here  to  supply  that  condi- 
tion of  increased  spirituality.  The  soul  is 
not  satisfied  with  the  beginnings  of  things.  It 
cries  out  for  completions.  God  has  made  it 
so,  and  to  halt  on  the  first  leg  of  the  spiritual 
journey  is  an  affront  to  God  as  well  as  an  in- 
jury to  one's  deepest  nature.  The  body  is 
not  satisfied  to  stumble  forward  like  the  babe 
of  twelve  months;  it  longs  for  trained  mus- 
cles, and  fleet  limbs,  and  developed  physique, 
because  God  meant  it  so.  The  mind  refuses 
to  stop  when  it  has  learned  the  alphabet,  and 
that  two  and  two  are  four.  It  sees  in  these 
essential  things  the  possibilities  of  literature, 
and  science,  and  mathematics,  and  is  spurred 
on  toward  superiority  by  its  own  inherent 
force;  but  all  this  is  in  harmony  with  the  un- 
written law  by  which  the  Lord  worked  when 
he  made  the  mind,  and  man  cannot  be  true  to 
himself  if  he  refuses  to  progress  in  matters 
intellectual.      The  soul  is  dissatisfied  with  a 


94  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

single  glimpse  of  spiritual  things.  God  made 
the  soul  to  see,  not  to  squint.  He  intended 
that  it  should  feel,  not  merely  guess  it  has  a 
sensation.  The  touch  of  the  heavenly  garment 
guarantees  the  divine  cure  through  inflow  of 
energy  into  the  diseased  soul ;  but  restoration 
to  full  strength  requires  exercise  with  God, 
and  breathing  the  pure  atmosphere  of  his 
presence. 

There  is  evidence  of  spirituality  at  the  first 
contact  with  God  on  the  part  of  a  man  who 
has  heavenly  aspirations ;  but  maturity  re- 
quires companionship.  For  this  purpose  and 
with  this  result  Enoch  walked  with  God,  and 
his  aptitude  in  the  spiritual  school  is  proved 
by  his  being  taken  into  the  great  university  of 
spirituality  without  a  formal  examination.  In 
his  case  the  being  of  God  took  the  place  of 
the  Book  of  God ;  but  Enoch  would  have  made 
equally  good  use  of  his  time,  his  talents,  and 
the  means  at  hand  if  he  had  lived  in  the 
twentieth  century. 

The  call  of  God  is  onward.  It  is  not  right 
to  linger  at  Haran  when  the  summons  is  to 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  95 

Canaan.  It  is  a  waste  of  time,  a  toying  with 
death,  and  an  insult  to  God  to  spend  thirty- 
eight  years  at  Kadesh-Barnea  when  the  divine 
call  is  to  cross  the  Jordan  and  possess  the 
land  of  promise.  "The  principles  of  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ"  are  all  right  in  their  place,  but 
a  time  comes  to  leave  them  and  "go  on  unto 
perfection."  Perfection  is  very  desirable,  but 
between  it  and  the  principles  is  a  going  on ; 
and  the  penalty  for  standing  still  is  "dead 
works,"  and  laying  the  foundation  for  another 
repentance. 

Paul  marks  out  this  path  of  progress  in  the 
third  of  Colossians :  "Put  on  therefore,  as 
the  elect  of  God,  holy  and  beloved,  bowels  of 
mercies,  kindness,  humbleness  of  mind,  meek- 
ness, long-suffering;  forbearing  one  another, 
and  forgiving  one  another  if  any  man  have  a 
quarrel  against  any ;  even  as  Christ  forgave 
you,  so  also  do  ye.  And  above  all  these  things 
put  on  charity,  which  is  the  bond  of  perfect- 
ness."  This  may  be  called  a  hard  road;  but 
going  the  opposite  direction  is  harder,  though 
it  may  present  powerful  appeals.     This  is  the 


96  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

Christian's  spiritual  pilgrimage.  It  marks  the 
course  of  the  pilgrim's  progress,  assuring  him 
that  charity,  a  love  for  every  man  sanctified 
by  a  previous  and  supreme  love  for  Jesus 
Christ,  is  attainable  in  this  life,  and  that  it 
girdles  the  loins  of  the  spiritual  man  and 
holds  in  place  a  dozen  other  indispensable 
Christian  graces. 

The  soul,  more  than  the  body  and  the  mind, 
is  averse  to  stopping  with  mere  beginnings. 
It  longs  to  rise,  step  by  step,  to  an  altitude 
undefiled  by  the  vice  of  the  world.  It  sends 
forth  faith  to  explore  regions  not  attained, 
and  lays  plans  for  greater  victories.  It  be- 
holds Christ,  the  captain  of  its  salvation,  made 
perfect  through  suffering,  and  yearns  for 
that  perfection  down  in  the  ranks  where  it 
marches,  even  at  the  cost  of  suffering.  It 
cries  out  for  God,  the  living  God,  and  re- 
fuses to  starve  on  worldly  things  without 
making  a  protest.  In  short,  the  soul  was  not 
made  to  be  satisfied  with  things  material  and 
things  social,  and  it  dares  maintain  its  right 
to  something  better.     It  claims  for  itself  the 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  97 

beatitude,  "Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunger 
and  thirst  after  righteousness :  for  they  shall 
be  filled."  It  numbers  itself  among  those 
which  mount  up  on  wings  as  eagles,  and  dis- 
ports itself  in  harmony  with  the  higher  law 
of  its  being.  And,  by  a  spiritual  forecast 
which  is  perfectly  legitimate,  it  takes  a  place 
among  the  saved  in  heaven,  forever  to  sing 
the  praises  of  God,  the  Creator,  and  the 
Lamb,  the  sacrifice. 

Assert  that  there  is  no  growth  in  grace? 
Better  deny  grace  altogether !  Claim  that 
there  is  no  progress  in  divine  life?  Better 
deny  the  possibilities  of  life  at  all !  "Set  your 
affection  on  things  above,  not  on  things  on  the 
earth.  For  ye  are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid 
with  Christ  in  God.  When  Christ,  who  is 
our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  ye  also  ap- 
pear with  him  in  glory."  If  the  spiritually- 
minded  man  is  faithful  until  the  glory  station, 
God  will  take  care  of  the  rest.  But  take  away 
the  Bible,  put  nothing  else  in  its  place,  and 
see  spirituality  decline.  The  soul  needs  a 
sacred    book,    a    compass    while    crossing    a 


98  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

tempest-tossed  sea,  a  chart  through  the  wilder- 
ness of  life.  God  made  the  soul.  Being  ac- 
quainted with  all  its  needs,  the  sacred  Book 
was  not  omitted. 

Fourthly,  the  Bible  points  out  the  obstacles 
in  the  path  of  spiritual  progress.  The  instruc- 
tion of  Israel  as  a  nation  was  to  keep  idols 
out  and  to  keep  God  in.  The  warning  is  the 
same  for  a  nation,  for  a  church,  or  for  a  man. 
There  is  no  better  biblical  illustration  of  a 
church  than  Paul's  words  about  the  believers 
at  Colosse  —  formal  believers  rather  than 
spiritual  worshipers.  Who  would  apply  for 
such  a  parish  to-day  when  so  many  are  seek- 
ing the  soft  places?  On  the  contrary,  what 
man  of  God,  what  spiritual  man  of  God, 
would  not  envy  the  man  whose  high  privilege 
it  is  to  help  the  Lord  spiritualize  such  a 
worldly  and  sinful  congregation?  Listen  to 
Paul's  characterization  of  this  church  as  con- 
tained in  his  advice : 

"Mortify  therefore  your  members  which 
are  upon  the  earth ;  fornication,  uncleanness, 
inordinate    affection,    evil    concupiscence,    and 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  99 

covetousness,  which  is  idolatry."  And  this 
language  to  a  church !  Nor  did  Paul  claim 
or  think  that  writing  such  a  beautiful  letter 
was  casting  pearls  before  swine!  He  makes 
no  suggestion  of  revising  the  records  to  keep 
the  church  pure !  His  business  was  to  make 
men  pure.     Paul  continues : 

"But  now  ye  also  put  off  all  these;  anger, 
wrath,  malice,  blasphemy,  filthy  communica- 
tion out  of  your  mouth.  Lie  not  one  to  an- 
other, seeing  that  ye  have  put  off  the  old  man 
with  his  deeds  ;  and  have  put  on  the  new  man." 

Of  the  first  group  of  sins  quoted,  Paul  says: 
"For  which  things'  sake  the  wrath  of  God 
cometh  on  the  children  of  disobedience."  He 
could  have  repeated  the  statement  after  the 
second  group.  Spirituality  cannot  grow  where 
the  wrath  of  God  is  visited,  until  after  the 
cause  of  that  wrath  is  removed.  Life  cannot 
thrive  on  destructive  poisons.  He  who  prizes 
certainty  may  be  thankful  that  the  Bible  does 
not  leave  him  in  the  dark  about  obstacles. 

The  Old  Testament  command  was:  "Cast 
ye  up;  cast  ye  up;  prepare  the  way;  take  up 


100  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

the  stumbling  block  out  of  the  way  of  my 
people."  The  stumbling  blocks  in  the  way  of 
God's  people  are  the  various  forms  of  sin. 
Where  sin  abounds,  grace  pines  away.  Where 
sin  thrives,  spirituality  dies.  One  grows  more 
like  him  with  whom  he  has  communion.  The 
tone  of  voice  shows  greater  harmony  with 
the  years,  the  countenance  changes  to  cor- 
respond, and  the  character  is  affected  in  the 
same  manner.  Two  watches  lying  side  by  side 
will  tick  together,  and  a  certain  note  on  the 
violin  will  call  forth  a  response  from  a  piano. 
This  is  in  accordance  with  inwrought  consti- 
tution and  law,  to  which  both  man  and  things 
are  subject.  One  cannot  have  fellowship  with 
sin  without  becoming  a  fellow  in  sin.  The 
particular  form  or  the  guise  in  which  it  ap- 
pears does  not  change  the  fact. 

Sin,  then,  is  the  great  foe  to  spirituality, 
for  sin  separates  the  sinner  from  God  and 
heaven.  Spirituality  is  heavenly-mindedness 
and  heavenly-heartedness.  Sin  cuts  between 
earth  and  heaven,  between  man  and  God.  Sin 
robs  prayer  of  its  power,  if  it  does  not  seal 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  101 

the  lips  of  the  one  who  has  learned  to  pray. 
The  psalmist  had  an  understanding  of  rela- 
tions when  he  said,  "If  I  regard  iniquity  in 
my  heart,  the  Lord  will  not  hear  me."  God 
cannot  afford  to  answer  some  men's  prayers 
because  sin  crouches  at  the  door  of  their  lives. 
Let  a  man  shoot  down  another  in  cold  blood 
and  then  attempt  to  pray.  If  he  prays  at  all, 
the  first  sentence  is  for  the  blotting  out  of  his 
transgression  because  it  has  blocked  his  way 
to  the  throne.  Whether  one's  sins  are  open 
or  secret,  they  destroy  the  efficacy  of  prayer, 
and,  if  continued,  there  is  a  funeral  in  that 
house  because  the  prayer-life  is  dead.  When 
one  remembers  to  pray,  sin  is  forgotten. 
When  one  remembers  to  pray,  he  forgets  to 
sin.  These  two  are  as  much  opposed  to  each 
other  as  darkness  and  light,  as  sweet  and  bit- 
ter. Indeed,  one  is  darkness  and  the  other 
light,  one  bitter  and  the  other  sweet. 

All  sin  is  selfishness  at  the  core.  Satan 
started  it  with  a  selfish  ambition.  Our  first 
parents  continued  it  with  a  selfish  arrogation 
to  themselves  of  denied  privileges.    Whatever 


102  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

endorsement  we  make  of  sin  in  any  form  roots 
in  some  sort  of  selfishness.  The  first  principle 
of  Christianity  is  unselfishness.  The  Bible 
tells  how  Jesus  gave  up  everything  he  pos- 
sessed in  heaven  that  he  might  help  others; 
how  he  became  a  man  that  he  might  bear  real 
burdens  of  human  life ;  how  he  went  lower, 
and  took  the  position  of  a  slave,  that  he  might 
partake  of  the  benefits  of  that  servitude;  how 
he  became  subject  to  death  that  those  under 
sentence  of  death  might  live ;  how  the  very 
worst  form  of  death  was  suffered — crucifixion 
for  a  crime  of  which  he  was  as  innocent  as 
the  angels  which  sang  the  glory  song  at  his 
birth — all  that  others  might  partake  of  his 
generosity. 

The  call  to  discipleship  is  the  call  away  from 
selfishness.  On  one  occasion  Jesus  said  to  a 
man  when  their  paths  crossed,  "Follow  me." 
The  man  replied,  "Suffer  me  first  to  go  and 
bury  my  father."  The  things  in  which  we  are 
interested  impel  us  to  cry  out,  "Me  first." 
There  are  too  many  "me-first"  people  for  the 
advancement  of  the  kingdom.     There  are  too 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  103 

many  "me-first"  preachers  to  reveal  the  best 
things  in  the  life  of  our  Lord.  There  are  so 
many  "me-first"  laymen  that  Jesus  wonders 
where  he  is  going  to  get  his  dues.  If  our 
Savior  had  said  "me  first,"  he  never  would 
have  been  our  Savior.  How  must  the  Lord 
look  upon  the  proud,  and  haughty,  and  self- 
centered  man ! 

If  Jesus  Christ  has  not  the  chief  place  in 
one's  life,  he  has  no  place  at  all.  His  nature 
fits  nowhere  else.  As  he  served,  so  we  must 
serve.  As  he  took  a  humble  place,  we  cannot 
be  disciples  if  we  seek  the  head  of  the  table. 
Spirituality  demands  humility,  and  we  can- 
not live  without  it.  Pride  and  scorn  are  as 
much  out  of  place  in  the  character  of  a  pro- 
fessed Christian  as  they  would  have  been  in 
the  character  of  Christ.  All  these  are  sin, 
because  they  separate  from  God.  Again,  he 
who  remembers  to  sin,  forgets  to  read  his 
Bible,  to  worship,  and  to  pray.  He  who  for- 
gets to  sin  is  a  student  of  the  Word,  a  devout 
worshiper   at   the   throne   of   grace,   and   an 


104  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

intercessor  for  his  friends  before  the  court  of 
high  heaven.     He  petitions  and  communes. 

Spirituality,  then,  implies  that  one's  feet 
are  tramping  hard  on  the  pathway  of  life ; 
that  he  is  emulating  the  character  of  Jesus 
Christ  so  far  as  it  parallels  his ;  that  he  its  mak- 
ing progress  toward  the  goal  of  life's  race; 
that  he  is  avoiding  the  snares  and  pitfalls  in 
the  way.  All  the  while  the  Bible  is  his  de- 
pendable guide  book.  What,  then,  should  be 
his  relation  to  the  Bible?  First,  and  last,  and 
all  the  time,  he  should  make  it  his  book,  his 
daily  counselor,  his  dependence  in  trial,  his 
stay  in  prosperity. 

Acquaintance  with  the  Bible  is  for  one  of 
two  things — equipment  for  spirituality,  or  a 
weapon  against  spirituality.  When  Jesus  was 
tempted  in  the  wilderness,  the  Bible  was  his 
defense.  In  the  fourth  chapter  of  Luke  one 
gains  an  insight  into  his  habits  which  throws 
a  flood  of  light  upon  his  character  and  his  con- 
duct. This  follows  the  account  of  the  tempta- 
tion. Jesus  had  returned  in  the  power  of  the 
Spirit  into  Galilee.    He  came  to  Nazareth,  the 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  105 

home  of  his  boyhood.  Passing  the  Sabbath 
there,  he  entered  the  synagogue,  "as  his  custom 
was."  "As  his  custom  was!"  When  they 
were  passing  the  books  around,  one  was  given 
to  him.  It  contained  at  least  a  portion  of  the 
prophecies  of  Isaiah.  He  turned  to  the  place 
which  told  about  the  spirit  of  God  resting 
upon  a  certain  man,  which  would  be  proved 
by  opened  prisons,  healed  hearts,  and  a  free 
gospel,  and  then  claimed  to  be  the  fulfillment 
of  that  scripture.  He  knew  what  that  proph- 
ecy was  before  he  went  inside.  He  knew  its 
application  to  himself.  But  this  is  only  an 
index  of  his  knowledge.  Without  a  doubt 
Jesus  could  begin  at,  "In  the  beginning  God," 
and  continue  to,  "I  come  and  smite  the  earth 
with  a  curse,"  without  missing  a  syllable. 

In  the  wilderness  hills  Jesus  withstood 
temptation.  If  his  character  needed  any  prop, 
the  Scriptures  provided  it.  But  both  con- 
testants used  the  same  weapon.  Doubtless, 
Satan  could  repeat  the  Bible  from  A  to  Z 
and  never  blunder.  He  familiarized  himself 
with  the  Scriptures  to  destroy  their  force.     It, 


106  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

was  like  a  David  in  Saul's  armor.  It  was 
worse  than  stealing  the  livery  of  heaven  to 
serve  the  devil  in.  If  one's  heart  is  right,  the 
Bible  helps  it  to  stay  right;  if  the  heart  is 
wrong,  every  influence,  Bible  included,  helps 
to  keep  it  wrong. 

Spiritually-minded  men  have  much  to  do 
with  God's  Word.  It  is  their  meat  and  drink. 
Their  hunger  is  relieved  and  their  thirst  as- 
suaged. Paul  and  Timothy  were  in  such  ac- 
cord with  the  expressed  will  of  God,  and  were 
such  good  students  of  the  Book,  that  they 
were  inspired  to  add  to  its  pages.  Beloved 
John  was  honored  likewise.  Spiritual  progress 
is  impossible  apart  from  a  knowledge  of  God's 
will  as  revealed  in  God's  Book. 

Among  men  of  modern  times,  the  same  gen- 
eral truth  holds  good.  The  great  poem  of 
John  Milton  owes  its  greatness  to  the  Bible, 
which  saturates  it  from  beginning  to  end.  The 
subject  of  paradise  cannot  be  treated  inde- 
pendently of  what  the  Scriptures  say.  "Pil- 
grim's Progress"  stands  next  to  the  Bible 
itself   in   number   of   copies  sold  and   in   its 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  107 

influence  for  good  upon  the  human  race.  But 
every  man  knows  the  reason.  Every  reader 
has  a  higher  mind  and  a  holier  heart  when 
he  has  finished  the  book,  because  it  is  woven 
with  the  warp  of  Scripture  and  the  woof  of 
a  Christian's  experience.  Arrest,  imprison- 
ment, and  general  mistreatment  could  not 
daunt  the  courageous  soul  of  John  Bunyan 
because  his  courage  was  founded  upon  him 
who  never  yielded  to  superior  forces  because 
they  were  superior,  and  whose  life  had  been 
the  model  for  his  own.  Let  him  who  would 
be  spiritual  not  look  for  effects  without  ade- 
quate causes.  A  good  knowledge  of  the  Bible 
is  the  cause,  combined  with  an  honest  heart. 
There  is  a  possibility  of  head  knowledge 
merely.  As  some  criminal  lawyers  study  law 
chiefly  to  free  the  guilty,  and  throw  justice 
off  the  track,  so  some  criminal  men  may  study 
the  Bible  only  to  destroy  its  effect  for  right- 
eousness, or  for  the  most  abject  selfishness. 
A  man  in  western  Illinois  posed  as  an  infidel 
at  home,  and  argued  his  position  from  the 
Scriptures.     During  the  winter  he  passed  as 


108  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

an  evangelist  farther  west,  and  employed  the 
same  Scriptures  in  persuading  men  to  accept 
Christ.  Call  him  a  spiiritually-minded  man ! 
Call  him  spiritually-hearted !  David  declared 
that  he  had  hidden  God's  word  in  his  heart 
that  he  might  not  sin.  His  was  a  spiritual 
mind  and  heart.  The  Illinois  man  had  a  part 
of  the  head,  but  lacked  all  of  the  heart.  The 
roots  of  the  spiritual  life  gain  no  sustenance 
from  hypocrisy. 

Lastly,  Bible  knowledge  shows  in  the  actions 
of  the  spiritual  man.  James  did  not  underrate 
faith,  but  he  knew  that  faith  cannot  walk  alone 
and  command  respect.  So  he  proposed  to 
show  his  faith  by  works.  The  proof  of  spirit- 
uality is  in  what  it  does. 

A  story  is  told  of  a  battlefield  which  illus- 
trates the  point.  The  incident  is  said  to  be 
true.  A  man  lay  mortally  wounded.  He,  was 
approached  by  the  chaplain  and  asked  if  he 
would  appreciate  some  message  from  the 
Bible.  "I  would  rather  have  a  cup  of  water," 
he  replied.  The  chaplain  gave  him  the  drink, 
and   again   asked   him   about  the   Bible.     "I 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  109 

would  rather  have  something  under  my  head," 
was  the  response.  The  chaplain  made  a  pil- 
low of  a  blanket,  and  a  third  time  mentioned 
the  sacred  Word.  "I  am  so  cold ;  can't  you 
cover  me  up  to  keep  me  warm?"  was  the  third 
request.  The  chaplain  took  off  his  own  coat, 
spread  it  over  the  fallen  man,  and  once  more 
spoke  of  the  message  from  God.  Then  the 
soldier  turned  his  eyes  upon  his  benefactor 
and  said,  "If  that  book  tells  other  people  to 
do  as  you  have  done  to  me,  that  is  the  part 
I  want  to  hear." 

Yes,  that  is  the  need  of  the  world.  There 
are  sick  who  need  help ;  convicts  who  need 
comfort ;  discouraged  who  need  hope ;  men 
who  are  down  and  long  for  a  hand  to  help 
them  up ;  men  who  are  out  and  want  in,  yet  do 
not  know  how  to  get  in.  The  great  majority 
of  this  work  is  to  be  done  by  those  whom  we 
term  spiritual,  and  who  at  the  same  time  know 
their  duty  as  prescribed  in  the  law  of  life  of 
their  great  leader. 


110  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

The  Bible !  Compass  of  bewildered  men ! 
The  hope  of  life  which  anchors  safe  in  God. 
The  chart  of  sinner  and  the  comfort  of  the 

saint. 
The  book  divine. 

The  Bible !     Channel  of  God's  love  to  men. 

The  hand  of  heaven  stretched  out  still, 

To  welcome,  succor,  and  restore  the  wayward 

soul, 
And  make  it  thine. 

The  Bible !    Book  of  all  the  best, 
Light  thou  the  way  and  lead  us  on ; 
Show  us  its  author  and  our  God, 
And  from  the  pathway  which  we  tread, 
Forever  shine. 


The  Bible  and  Character 

A  MAN  sits  before  a  block  of  metal  or 
stone  or  wood.  In  his  hand  is  a  tool, 
a  sharp  instrument,  with  which  he 
is  marking  or  engraving  the  block.  The  lines 
he  makes  are  termed  characters.  In  this 
sense  we  call  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  char- 
acters. In  course  of  time  the  original  mean- 
ing of  character  was  lost  in  part,  and  by- 
transference  of  idea  the  thing  marked  was 
named  a  character,  rather  than  the  engraved 
lines  themselves. 

Substitute  a  human  life  for  the  metal  plate. 
It  is  impossible  for  life  to  continue  long  with- 
out being  affected  by  external  forces.  Here 
is  a  scratch,  here  a  mark ;  there  is  a  line,  there 
a  corrosion.  These  are  characters  in  the 
original  sense  of  the  term,  and  they  help  to 
form  character  in  the  secondary  meaning. 
These  forces  may  be  physical,  mental,  moral, 
spiritual ;  they  may  be  social,  financial,  edu- 

111 


112  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

cative;  they  may  be  uplifting  or  depressing, 
constructive  or  destructive.  Altogether  they 
include  the  combined  influences  of  heredity,  of 
environment,  of  heaven,  of  hell,  and  something 
from  the  human  heart  itself. 

Man,  specific  man,  is  the  resultant  of  the 
action  and  interaction  of  these  forces.  He  is 
not  their  sport,  and  helpless  in  their  grasp ; 
consequently,  the  outcome  is  not  a  mechan- 
ical product.  When  any  force  rises  above  the 
plane  of  mechanism,  there  is  no  rule  of  books, 
no  dictum  of  philosophy,  no  law  of  science, 
to  which  the  resultant  is  bound  to  show  respect. 
The  power  of  heredity  may  be  calculable  some 
day ;  likewise  that  of  environment,  whether 
the  two  act  in  harmony  or  in  antagonism.  The 
power  from  above  or  from  below  is  not  re- 
ducible to  mathematical  terms ;  it  defies  both 
scales  and  figures.  Certainly  one's  own  intel- 
lect, or  sensibility,  or  will  cannot  be  regulated 
by  another  man's  rule,  and  frequently  the 
person  himself  is  surprised  beyond  measure  at 
his  marvelous  attainments  or  at  his  humiliating 
deficiencies. 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  1 13 

While  character  is  a  resultant,  it  does  not 
grow  out  of  mechanical  forces,  and  is  not 
mechanically  conditioned.  In  this  connection 
it  stands  for  what  a  man  is — for  that  combina- 
tion of  qualities  which  make  him  a  separate 
unit,  distinguishing  him  from  other  men ;  sim- 
ilarly, a  class  of  men  may  have  character  dif- 
ferentiated from  other  classes.  Passing  from 
what  one  is  to  what  one  can  do,  character  is 
the  measure  of  one's  moral  force  or  influence. 

Man  has  taken  the  place  of  the  metal  plate. 
Four  external  forces  and  a  part  of  the  in- 
ternal have  become  the  tool ;  but  the  directing 
hand,  the  workman  in  fact,  is  that  fifth  force 
risen  into  a  free  and  independent  personality, 
capable  of  handling  the  tools  to  his  own  mak- 
ing— or  his  unmaking.  Where  does  the  Bible 
appear,  and  what  sort  of  a  line  does  it  make 
on  a  life?  As  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  a  human 
workman,  what  part  has  it  in  fashioning  char- 
acter? For  what  changes  is  it  responsible  in 
the  individual,  the  family,  the  state,  the 
church?  Are  the  marks  it  leaves  on  a  man 
contributory  to  his  strength  of  body,  his  keen- 


114  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

ness  of  mind,  his  beauty  of  soul  ?  Is  the  fam- 
ily more  concordant  through  its  influence,  a 
greater  asset  to  the  community,  and  a  stronger 
safeguard  of  the  state?  Is  the  state  itself  the 
gainer  in  peace,  in  power,  and  in  stability 
where  the  Bible  enters  into  its  structure?  How 
is  religion  affected  by  the  prevalence  of  the 
Bible,  and  by  general  obedience  to  its  teach- 
ings? To  what  extent  are  those  influenced 
by  the  Word  who  do  not  publicly  acknowledge 
its  God  as  their  own  and  its  Christ  as  their 
personal  Savior?  In  a  word,  what  has  the 
Bible  to  do  with  moral  character,  anyway,  as 
a  contributory  factor  and  as  a  preserving 
force?  Finally,  might  the  Bible  be  dispensed 
with  and  men  suffer  no  serious  disadvantage? 
The  moral  character  of  any  nation  is  de- 
termined by  its  sacred  book.  This  implies  alle- 
giance to  the  principles  and  precepts  of  that 
book.  Sacredness  carries  a  belief  in  super- 
natural origin.  Confidence  in  the  divine 
source  of  such  a  volume  precludes  rising  above 
its  teachings  on  the  part  of  those  taught.     No 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  115 

higher  ideals  are  supposed  to  exist  than  it 
embodies,  and  none  committed  to  writing. 

The  Bible  is  incomparably  above  any  other 
sacred  book.  It  lifts  its  devotees  above  those 
of  any  other  scripture.  It  makes  every  man 
a  priest  of  righteousness,  and  affords  him 
communion  with  its  author.  Its  face-to-face 
religion  is  illustrated  in  the  lives  of  Enoch 
and  Moses.  Its  personal  inspiration  is  shown 
by  David  and  Isaiah.  Its  care  for  the  op- 
pressed is  revealed  in  the  call  and  career  of 
Gideon  and  Samuel.  Its  political  plans  are 
discovered  in  the  organization  of  a  theoc- 
racy and  a  later  kingdom.  Its  moral  princi- 
ples appear  in  the  Ten  Commandments,  and 
its  protection  of  such  principles  in  the  rise  of 
the  prophets.  Its  spiritual  purpose  is  declared 
in  the  constitution  of  a  priestly  tribe,  whose 
business  was  at  the  altar  and  the  bowl  of 
cleansing. 

To  the  extent  that  the  Bible  ideals  have 
entered  into  the  life  of  any  nation,  to  that 
extent  it  has  been  ennobled,  enriched,  and 
made  the  channel  for  uplifting  other  peoples. 


116  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

Spread  out  a  map  of  the  world  to-day,  and 
study  the  relation  of  the  Bible  to  enlighten- 
ment, culture,  and  commerce.  Africa  is  to  be 
reckoned  with  only  as  the  Bible  has  had  an 
influence.  Paganism  has  had  things  much  its 
own  way,  and  not  a  single  good  is  to  its  credit. 
Everywhere  is  depravity,  oppression,  slavery, 
and  the  mistreatment  of  woman.  The  con- 
quest of  Mohammedanism  from  the  north 
offers  something  better,  but  it  travels  in  the 
reflected  light  of  Christianity.  But  only  the 
Bible  has  given  natives  ideals  in  character 
and  conduct  which  any  man  of  average  en- 
lightenment can  approve.  As  the  Bible  starts 
inward  from  every  coast,  the  magnitude  of 
its  task  is  equalled  only  by  the  certainty  of 
its  conquest  and  the  joy  over  its  final  victory. 
India,  and  China,  and  Japan  are  coming 
into  world  relations  as  they  come  into  the 
spirit  of  the  sacred  book  of  the  Christians.  No 
nationalism,  however  pronounced,  can  figure 
in  globe  affairs  if  it  have  not  that  stability 
vouchsafed  by  loyalty  to  the  fundamental 
ethics  of  the  Scriptures. 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  117 

The  cruelty  of  the  Turk  is  proverbial — cor- 
rected only  so  far  as  the  Bible  has  received 
respect.  The  hermit  habits  of  Thibet  are  well 
known — broken  only  by  the  entrance  of  the 
light.  The  instability  of  Persia  is  common 
knowledge — overcome  only  by  mixing  Bible 
morals  with  its  politics.  The  voyages  of  Cap- 
tain James  Cook  through  three  oceans  were 
attended  with  danger  of  tragic  death.  After 
braving  treachery  and  cannibalism  safely  till 
his  maps  and  charts  of  the  sea  became  reliable 
for  all  time,  he  yielded  up  his  life  at  Hawaii 
in  1779,  savages  serving  as  his  executioners. 
A  century  and  a  half  has  worked  marvels  in 
the  civilization  of  the  islands  of  the  sea,  and 
scarcely  one  may  be  found  now  where  life 
would  be  endangered.  But  the  change  has 
been  wrought  by  the  Book  which  always  takes 
the  part  of  the  oppressed,  always  puts  a  kind 
heart  in  the  breast  of  the  savage,  and  always 
enacts  laws  for  the  guidance  of  conduct  and 
the  punishment  of  violation. 

Europe  presents  a  complex  situation.  When 
France  let  Christianity  go  for  the  atheism  of 


118  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

Voltaire,  which  was  consistent  with  her  course 
during  the  Reformation,  she  planned  for  car- 
nage, and  misery,  and  anarchy,  and  a  series  of 
revolutions,  all  of  which  are  the  natural  fruit 
of  atheism,  but  none  of  which  have  any  place 
where  the  Bible  is  honored  and  obeyed.  Rus- 
sia accepts  the  Bible  for  the  leaders,  but  per- 
verts its  teachings  so  that  it  cannot  be  regarded 
as  a  standard.  Such  massacres  as  have  oc- 
curred at  Kishineff,  and  such  inhumanity  as 
George  Kenyon  revealed  twenty-five  years  ago 
in  his  articles  on  the  Siberian  exile  system, 
occur  where  Scripture  influence  is  barred — 
in  spite  of  the  Bible  and  not  in  accordance 
with  it.  Spain  has  no  Bible  for  the  masses, 
and  she  is  a  disappearing  factor  in  inter- 
national matters.  England,  Scotland,  Switzer- 
land, and  Germany  were  affected  by  the  Ref- 
ormation of  the  sixteenth  century  more  than 
any  other  countries.  Ever  since  that  day 
they  have  stood  for  the  open  Bible  and  the 
uplifted  cross.  To-day  they  have  the  largest 
commercial  business,  the  best  government,  the 
greatest  freedom,  and  the  highest  respect  of 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  119 

others.  In  response  to  an  inquiry  by  a  prince 
of  East  India,  Queen  Victoria  handed  him  a 
Bible  with  the  words,  "This  is  the  secret  of 
England's  greatness." 

South  America  is  called  the  "neglected  con- 
tinent." Protestant  missions  have  not  been 
planted  and  propagated  there  as  in  Africa, 
India,  China,  and  the  Philippines.  But  all 
South  American  countries  have  the  cross.  In 
no  place  is  there  greater  proof  that  a  concep- 
tion of  vicarious  sacrifice,  with  meaning  per- 
verted by  unscrupulous  priests,  is  totally  inade- 
puate  to  uplift  the  depraved,  purify  the  un- 
clean, and  regenerate  the  sinner.  The  crucifix 
without  the  Bible  is  but  a  proof  of  supersti- 
tion and  a  badge  of  slavery.  It  leads  to  the 
worship  of  images  in  violation  of  the  Sinaitic 
law.  This  worship  has  the  tacit  approval  of 
some  priests,  as  is  shown  by  the  omission  of 
that  second  commandment  from  some  Catholic 
Bibles  of  the  Philippines,  and  the  splitting  of 
another  of  the  ten  into  two  in  order  to  make 
the  list  full  and  fool  the  reader.  James  M. 
Taylor,  of  the  "Faith  and  Love  Mission,"  who 


120  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

has  traveled  extensively  in  South  America  and 
adjacent  islands,  declares  that  Americans  have 
no  conception  of  the  cruelties  practiced  upon 
the  helpless  Indians  by  churchmen  in  good 
standing,  and  asserts  that  much  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church  there  is  no  more  than  bald  pagan- 
ism baptized  with  Christian  ceremony.  To  the 
cross  the  Bible  must  be  added,  and  in  the 
vernacular  of  the  people,  if  South  American 
ecclesiastical  tyranny  shall  cease,  and  the  stan- 
dard of  national  life  be  elevated. 

North  America  presents  the  most  striking 
contrast  between  the  United  States  and  the 
Central  American  states.  The  former  accepted 
the  boon  at  Jamestown,  and  ever  since  has 
walked  in  the  light  which  emancipates  a  nation 
as  well  as  the  intellect  and  the  soul.  When 
darkness  is  to  be  dispelled,  it  is  the  Bible  land 
which  has  purse  and  heart.  When  distress 
is  to  be  relieved,  it  is  the  land  of  the  Scrip- 
tures which  has  ability  and  inclination.  Hos- 
pitals, asylums,  sanatoriums,  and  other  phil- 
anthropic institutions  waited  for  the  Bible  to 
lead  the  way,  and  now  depend  upon  its  teach- 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  121 

ings  to  render  them  permanent  and  efficient. 
The  gospel  is  the  parent  of  national  strength, 
and  its  absence  is  the  cause  of  national  weak- 
ness. If  one  desires  to  bring  about  the  de- 
cadence of  his  country  so  that  America  may- 
look  like  Spain ;  if  he  wishes  to  see  the  phos- 
phorescent glow  of  its  declining  virility ;  if  he 
prefers  that  reverence  for  womanhood  give 
place  to  the  harem  of  the  Turk ;  if  he  is  satis- 
fied for  religious  ideals  to  settle  to  the  bottom 
like  those  of  South  America ;  if  he  prizes  the 
hazard  belonging  to  cannibal  islands ;  if  he 
chooses  to  be  the  recipient  of  pitying  favor 
rather  than  the  agent  of  significant  blessing; 
if  he  believes  in  low  ideals  and  lower  conduct, 
— in  brief,  if  he  regards  the  absence  of  moral 
character  with  greatest  favor,  and  corruption 
in  high  position  with  complacent  mind,  let  him 
set  to  work  to  destroy  the  Bible,  or  to  under- 
mine its  influence. 

Very  truly  does  an  Anglican  bishop  say: 
"Which  are  the  countries  on  the  face  of  the 
globe  at  this  moment  where  there  is  the  great- 
est amount  of  idolatry,  or  cruelty,  or  impurity, 


122  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

or  misgovernment,  or  disregard  of  life,  liberty, 
and  truth?  Precisely  those  countries  where 
the  Bible  is  not  known.  Which  are  the  Chris- 
tian countries,  so  called,  where  the  greatest 
quantity  of  ignorance,  superstition,  and  cor- 
ruption is  to  be  found  at  this  moment?  The 
countries  in  which  the  Bible  is  a  forbidden  or 
neglected  book — such  countries  as  Spain  and 
the  South  American  states.  Which  are  the 
countries  where  liberty  and  public  and  private 
morality  have  attained  the  highest  pitch  ?  The 
countries  where  the  Bible  is  free  to  all,  like 
England,  Scotland,  Germany,  and  the  United 
States.  Yes !  When  you  know  how  a  nation 
deals  with  the  Bible,  you  may  know  what  that 
nation  is." 

The  unit  of  the  state  is  the  individual.  If 
the  state  is  made  better  in  every  way  by  the 
common  circulation  of  the  Scriptures,  it  must 
be  through  the  uplifting  of  men,  one  by  one. 
The  character  of  the  whole  cannot  be  changed 
unless  the  constituent  parts  are  affected. 

Jacob  and  Esau  were  twin  brothers.  The 
first   was   endowed   with    a   grasping   nature, 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  123 

which  needed  to  be  made  over  before  he  was 
a  fit  leader  in  spiritual  things.  After  his 
name,  meaning  "supplanter,"  was  changed  to 
Israel,  meaning  "prince  of  God,"  he  lined  up 
with  his  King.  Esau  headed  toward  the  wil- 
derness, and  the  Esauites  became  the  Edom- 
ites.  When  the  Roman  conquest  swept  away 
the  independence  of  Edom,  the  country,  along 
with  Judea,  Samaria,  and  Galilee,  was  placed 
under  a  procurator,  Antipater  of  Edom,  or  an 
Idumean,  after  the  Greek  form,  securing  the 
position  through  favoritism  at  Rome.  Antip- 
ater was  the  father  of  Herod  the  Great,  the 
first  enemy  of  our  Lord,  the  progenitor  of 
many  who  prefer  the  wilderness  life  with  its 
absence  of  law  and  order,  and  making  the 
traveler  unsafe  to-day  in  that  rugged  country. 
The  marks  which  their  respective  environ- 
ments made  on  Jacob  and  Esau  became 
permanent  traits  of  character.  Nearly  four 
thousand  years  have  not  been  able  to  efface 
them,  or  render  the  characters  more  alike. 
Every  succeeding  generation  helped  to  fix 
the  chasm.     Jacob  and  his  descendants,  man 


124  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

by  man,  kept  in  touch  with  God,  and  made  at 
least  a  show  of  obeying  God's  law.  Esau  and 
his  offspring,  man  by  man,  ran  away  from 
God,  and  trampled  his  law  under  foot.  The 
murderous  Herod  is  but  an  emphasized  edition 
of  the  Edom  family ;  and  every  modern  out- 
rage attributed  to  Esau's  lineal  descendants  is 
fresh  evidence  of  the  baneful  influence  of 
banished  law. 

This  law  was  the  Old  Testament  in  part. 
Some  remained  yet  to  be  written.  Through 
it  God  spoke,  and  by  it  blessed  obedience  and 
punished  infractions.  These  divergent  streams 
of  humanity  illustrate  in  a  remarkable  way 
the  force  that  a  sacred  book  has  in  shaping 
individual  life  until  it  acquires  a  distinct 
national  stamp.  The  Hebrew  race  and  the 
Arabs  tell  the  story  of  the  Bible's  value. 

Perhaps  a  man  nearer  our  own  day  will 
mean  more.  About  the  time  Jesus  was  born 
in  Bethlehem,  another  child  saw  the  light  in 
Asia  Minor.  No  census  was  on,  compelling 
every  family  to  return  to  the  city  of  its 
fathers   for  enrollment.     No  host  of  heaven 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  125 

sang  a  praise  harmony  at  his  advent.  No 
heavenly  body  guided  astrologers  to  his  crib. 
The  birth  was  not  preceded  by  the  Magnificat 
of  a  Mary,  or  followed  by  the  benediction  of 
a  Simeon. 

But  this  child  "grew,  and  waxed  strong  in 
spirit,"  and  also  "increased  in  wisdom  -and 
stature."  The  educational  advantages  afforded 
by  the  city  of  Tarsus  were  supplemented  by 
training  in  the  rabbinical  schools  of  the  city 
of  Mount  Zion.  Strongly  national,  severely 
religious,  the  zealous  man  became  a  zealot 
in  the  face  of  any  apparent  antagonism.  He 
thought  he  was  obeying  the  Bible,  in  perse- 
cuting the  followers  of  Him  who  was  the  ful- 
fillment of  the  Jewish  Scriptures.  Rage,  op- 
pression, arrest,  and  imprisonment  were 
accompaniments  of  approved  homicide.  Worse 
even  than  that  was  the  compelled  blasphemy 
to  escape  the  fury  of  the  insane  persecutor. 
This  course  led  the  Apostle  Paul  to  say  later 
that  he  was  the  chief  of  sinners. 

A  mistaken  interpretation  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment led  to  this  wild  course.     A  vision  of  the 


126  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

Crucified  changed  both  character  and  course. 
Henceforth  Paul's  life  was  to  be  devoted  to 
the  furtherance  of  the  gospel  he  had  deter- 
mined to  stamp  out.  In  his  remaking,  a  new 
character  was  attained.  The  same  zeal 
remained,  but  applied  to  a  different  cause. 
Devotion  was  unabated,  but  to  the  promised 
Redeemer  of  Israel.  Paul's  journey  across 
the  ^Egean  Sea  from  Troas  settled  the  destiny 
of  Europe,  and,  through  Europe,  that  of  the 
two  western  continents.  But  his  work  was 
based  on  argument  from  the  Scriptures,  as  he 
went  from  city  to  city,  preaching  and  alleging 
that  Jesus  was  the  Christ,  and  exhorting  all 
to  see  in  him  the  hope  of  the  Jewish  race 
and  the  promise  of  the  Jewish  P>ible.  On  this 
one  character,  forged  in  the  furnace  of  God's 
chosen  service,  depends  more  than  man  can 
calculate.  The  graces  of  love,  joy,  peace,  long- 
suffering,  together  with  gentleness,  goodness, 
meekness,  faith,  were  so  displayed  that  others 
acquired  them  and  set  a  new  standard  that 
was  destined  to  displace  the  old,  or  establish 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  127 

one  in  the  absence  of  any  moral  or  spiritual 
ideals.      Character  grew  through  obedience. 

On  a  small  island  about  three  miles  seaward 
from  Sierra  Leone,  West  Africa,  are  the  re- 
mains of  a  slave  pen.  It  is  built  of  concrete, 
some  large  stones  having  entered  into  its  con- 
struction. On  the  island  is  a  dungeon,  in 
which  the  more  obstreperous  blacks  were  con- 
fined. 

For  about  ten  years  John  Newton  was  en- 
gaged in  the  African  slave  trade.  He  could 
see  families  separated  forever,  hear  the  moans 
of  frightened  men  and  women,  administer  the 
scourge  when  thought  needful,  and  sell  fellow 
human  beings  into  lifelong  servitude  without 
any  protest  of  conscience.  But  the  Bible  got 
hold  of  the  man's  heart.  It  proved  him  in 
the  wrong,  and  pointed  out  the  path  of  duty. 
Yielding  to  its  orders,  John  Newton  became 
an  efficient  minister  in  the  Church  of  England, 
and  a  hymn-writer  whose  products  are  used 
in  all  churches  to  this  day. 

There  is  no  more  striking  case  of  individual 
regeneration.  It  exceeds  that  of  Jerry 
McAuley,    the    river    thief    of    New    York, 


128  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

founder  of  the  celebrated  mission  in  that  city. 
It  is  a  charming  story  of  transformation  of 
life  and  the  building  of  a  new  character — 
all  owed  to  the  Bible,  and  the  Spirit  of  God 
operating  through  his  Word.  Even  the  in- 
sults of  men  are  made  to  praise  God.  The 
Rufus  Clark  and  Wife  Training  School  in 
Sierra  Leone  is  built  in  part  from  stones  taken 
from  this  old  prison  pen,  a  monument  at  the 
same  time  of  a  type  of  civilization  long  passed 
and  of  the  amazing  mercy  and  power  of  the 
Lord.    Well  could  John  Newton  write : 

"While  we  seek  supplies  of  grace 
Through  the  dear  Redeemer's  name, 

Show  thy  reconciling  face ; 
Take  away  our  sin  and  shame. 

"May  the  gospel's  joyful  sound 
Conquer  sinners,  comfort  saints, 

Make  the  fruits  of  grace  abound, 
Bring  relief  from  all  complaints." 

Mr.  Newton  lived  the  Bible  life.  None 
need  question  the  peaceful  end.  Writing  his 
own  epitaph,  he  expressed  a  wish  that  it 
might  be  inscribed  on  a  plain  marble  tablet, 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  129 

and  placed  near  the  vestry  door.  "And  I 
earnestly  desire,"  said  he,  "that  no  other 
monument  and  no  inscription  but  to  this  pur- 
port may  be  attempted  for  me."  The  first 
half,  which  has  especial  fitness  here,  reads  as 
follows : 

JOHN  NEWTON,  Clerk, 
Once  an  infidel  and  libertine,  a  servant 
of    slaves    in    Africa,    was,    by    the    rich 
mercy  of  our  Lord  and  Savior, 

JESUS  CHRIST, 
Preserved,    restored,    pardoned,    and    ap- 
pointed to  preach  the  faith  he  had  long 
labored  to  destroy. 

Between  the  man  and  the  state  stands  the 
family.  If  the  Bible  has  a  beneficent  influ- 
ence upon  the  two  extremes,  it  must  affect 
likewise  everything  intermediate.  If  religion 
is  good  for  anything,  it  must  be  a  blessing 
where  lives  mingle  daily,  and  act  and  react 
on  one  another.  The  man  in  a  monastery  or 
on  the  mountain  summit  alone  may  be  impure 
in  thought  but  never  communicate  the  sin  to 
others.     The  Bible  aims  to  establish  personal 


130  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

character,  with  some  purpose  at  least  for  that 
character  to  manifest  itself  in  domestic,  social, 
and  business  relations. 

The  family  was  God's  first  institution,  un- 
less the  garden  home  be  considered  ante- 
cedent ;  but  even  it  was  to  subserve  the  wel- 
fare of  the  family.  An  a  priori  argument 
would  favor  the  Bible's  wholesome  influence 
upon  the  family  even  more  than  upon  school 
or  church  or  nation.  Is  this  conclusion  sus- 
tained by  inductive  study?     Let  us  see. 

According  to  the  latest  statistics  obtainable, 
there  were  945,625  divorces  in  the  United 
States  in  twenty  years,  two-thirds  of  them  to 
the  wife.  About  one-twelfth  of  our  marri- 
ages are  failures  to  the  extent  that  they  get 
into  the  courts.  More  than  sixteen  per  cent, 
of  these  legal  separations  were  on  the  charge 
of  adultery,  a  crime  which  the  Lord  thought 
important  enough  to  put  under  the  ban  of  a 
special  prohibition.  If  this  were  the  only 
cause,  and  the  Bible  had  been  followed  in 
the  protection  of  character,  "Thou  shalt  not 
commit  adultery,"  153,759  homes  would  have 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  131 

remained  happy  in  the  two  decades  instead 
of  being  broken  up  through  sin.  Drunkenness 
is  given  credit  for  destroying  four  per  cent, 
of  the  disrupted  homes,  though  it  has  been 
a  contributing  factor  in  the  cases  assigned  to 
adultery,  cruelty,  desertion,  and  neglect;  and 
the  curse  of  the  Bible  rests  on  drunkenness. 
The  Bible  insists  that  kindness  shall  be  a  grace 
of  the  Christian  life ;  but  nearly  twenty-two 
per  cent,  of  the  divorces  grow  out  of  cruelty, 
the  greater  part,  of  course,  obtained  by  the 
wife.  How  different  it  would  have  been  if 
the  Bible  had  had  its  way  in  such  homes ! 
The  good  Book  tells  us  that  the  man  who  does 
not  provide  for  his  own  is  worse  than  an 
infidel.  Notwithstanding  this,  367,502  divorces 
are  credited  to  desertions  in  twenty  years, 
forty  per  cent,  of  the  whole.  Again,  disobedi- 
ence means  disruption.  Nearly  four  per  cent, 
are  caused  by  neglect  to  provide,  which  the 
same  Scripture  covers.  Naturally,  these  de- 
crees would  be  granted  to  the  wife ;  but  Utah 
has  six  cases  of  divorce  granted  to  men  whom 
their  wives  would  not  support  according  to 


132  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

the  masculine  standard.  And  Utah  is  a  State 
that  is  built  on  adultery,  even  though  under 
the  guise  of  polygamous  marital  relations. 
Above  nine  per  cent,  of  divorces  are  combi- 
nations of  the  preceding  causes,  and  hence 
show  at  least  double  violation  of  divine  law. 
These  separations  are  destructive  of  morals, 
as  well  as  based  on  destroyed  morals.  The 
Bible  is  a  conserving  force,  and,  given  its 
way,  would  put  happiness  into  every  miserable 
home,  save  men  and  women  from  becoming 
wrecks,  floaters,  and  wanderers,  and  preserve 
to  children  their  divine  right  of  natural  pro- 
tectors. This  crime  against  childhood  has  no 
equal  in  domestic  annals,  and  is  responsible 
for  starting  numberless  sons  and  daughters  to 
the  bad.  Instead  of  a  "safety  valve,"  divorce 
is  the  sum  of  all  villainies  which  touch  the 
home.  Obedience  to  the  Bible  would  prevent 
all  infidelity,  all  incompatibility  of  temper, 
all  cruelty,  all  neglect,  all  drunkenness,  all  sin 
whose  course  is  shame  and  whose  end  is  sep- 
aration. 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  133 

Another  commandment  says,  "Thou  shalt 
not  kill."  But  for  twenty  years  we  have  aver- 
aged over  sixty-five  hundred  homicides  an- 
nually in  this  country,  while  the  murders  of 
two  years,  1895  and  1896,  ran  up  above  ten 
thousand  each.  Practically  every  one  is  a 
proof  that  the  Bible  had  been  disregarded, 
and  that  the  character  of  the  murderers  had 
been  formed  by  causes  antagonistic  to  the 
Word  of  God.  As  forty-three  per  cent,  of 
our  homicides  are  native  whites,  the  fault  lies 
at  our  own  door.  A  Bible  life  would  have 
saved  every  man  from  wilful  murder.  The 
number  of  homes  affected  by  these  homicides 
is  not  ascertainable,  but  every  murder  creates 
a  vacancy  about  some  hearth,  and  every  con- 
viction shortens  the  life  of  some  innocent 
friend  or  relative. 

Another  commandment  is  directed  against 
covetousness.  God  knew  that  the  greed  of  the 
human  heart  needed  the  guard  of  a  prohibi- 
tory law.  Yet  in  four  years,  1906  to  1909, 
the  embezzlements  averaged  more  than  twelve 
millions,  with  perhaps  more  than  that  amount 


134  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

of  graft  not  included.  And  every  case  of 
money  fraud  is  a  blight  upon  some  home. 
Respect  for  another's  property  would  make  for 
character  of  the  correct  kind. 

Drink  claims  nearly  a  hundred  thousand 
lives  a  year  in  the  United  States,  every  one 
leaving  a  trail  of  misery,  and  wetchedness,  and 
woe  which  would  be  stopped  if  the  Book  of 
books  had  its  way.  It  tells  us  that  no  drunk- 
ard shall  inherit  the  kingdom ;  much  less  shall 
the  drunkard-maker.  God  must  have  known 
the  terrible  suffering,  and  poverty,  and  squalor 
that  follow  in  the  wake  of  liquor-drinking,  and 
have  had  regard  for  home  life  and 
home  ties  when  consigning  violators  of  this 
law  to  hell  for  their  iniquity.  When  we  add 
the  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  crime  due  to 
strong  drink,  and  note  the  demand  of  the 
drinker  for  the  gaming  table  and  immoral 
women,  we  must  respect  God  for  his  effort 
to  protect  home  and  life  by  condemning  strong 
drink. 

The  social  evil  is  the  vice  which  undermines 
a  home  and  destrovs  its  affection.     It  works 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  135 

so  stealthily,  and  the  sin  is  hidden  under  the 
garb  of  innocence  so  successfully,  that  laws 
are  broken  without  discovery  till  a  crash  shat- 
ters a  home  with  overwhelming  suddenness 
and  fury.  All  this  is  in  contravention  of  the 
seventh  commandment,  and  the  entire  spirit 
of  the  two  Testaments.  New  York  City  is 
said  to  support  thirty  thousand  public  women, 
with  an  equal  number  of  clandestine  prosti- 
tutes. In  the  entire  country  there  are  six 
hundred  thousand  who  wear  the  scarlet,  and 
as  many  more  whose  lives  entitle  them  to  the 
same  distinction,  besides  others  whose  occa- 
sional mingling  is  caused  partially  by  a  desire 
to  eke  out  a  precarious  living  by  the  price  of 
character.  This  vast  army  must  be  replen- 
ished every  five  years,  for  the  red-light  district 
is  the  short  cut  to  the  grave.  An  average 
of  five  men  is  required  to  support  every  public 
woman,  rolling  up  an  aggregate  of  six  million 
men  sold  under  one  kind  of  sin.  No  wonder 
God  thought  best  to  inscribe  a  special  pro- 
hibition of  this  crime.  It  unfits  any  guilty 
man  or  woman  from  becoming  the  head  of  a 


136  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

home  or  the  parent  of  children.  A  babe  has 
a  right  to  draw  its  first  breath  without  being 
mortgaged  to  Satan  and  death.  Adultery  or 
fornication  disrupts  a  home  because  it  destroys 
that  foundation  of  purity  on  which  alone  a 
stable  home  can  be  built.  Just  one  thing — 
obedience  to  the  moral  law  as  expressed  both 
in  the  Bible  and  in  the  constitution  of  man — 
is  a  guarantee  of  the  peace  and  the  perpetuity 
of  happy  domestic  relations. 

When  the  Bible  has  its  way,  all  curable 
moral  ills  give  place  to  health.  Some  conse- 
quences of  shattered  law  cannot  be  overcome 
by  a  tardy  obedience,  however  bitter  and  gen- 
uine the  repentance.  But  the  Bible  is  entitled 
to  its  place  of  influence.  One  of  the  United 
Brethren  missionaries  in  the  Philippines  offici- 
ated at  the  marriage  of  a  man  and  woman 
in  the  presence  of  their  children  and  grand- 
children. They  were  life-partners  by  com- 
mon law,  without  the  marriage  bond.  But  the 
Bible  had  opened  their  eyes  to  the  wrong, 
and  they  determined  to  right  it  as  far  as  pos- 
sible.    Such  instances  are  frequent  in  mission 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  137 

lands,  especially  Catholic  countries  where  ra- 
pacious priests  hold  up  matrimonial  candidates 
for  sums  exceeding  their  ability  or  their  incli- 
nation. The  entire  influence  of  the  Bible  is 
for  the  clean  life  and  the  pure  home. 

One  may  hold  that,  since  civilization  has 
reached  a  forward  stage,  and  business  honesty 
acquired  a  firm  basis,  and  moral  character 
made  itself  secure,  the  Bible  has  served  its 
purpose.  They  point  to  individual  men  who 
do  not  know  whether  Ecclesiastes  is  in  the 
Old  or  New  Testament,  whose  lives  show 
forth  no  moral  flaw.  They  tell  us  that  these 
men  have  risen  from  the  ranks  by  their  own 
genius  and  devotion  to  the  right.  The  impli- 
cation is  that,  since  their  good  characters  were 
molded  apart  from  the  Bible,  the  Book  has 
passed  its  day  and  can  be  shelved  with  no 
danger,  if  not  with  perfect  propriety. 

When  Jesus  lived,  he  said,  "And  I,  if  I  be 
lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  me."  The  conditions  outlined  in  the 
foregoing  paragraph  testify  to  the  truth  of 
Jesus'  prophecy.     He  was  lifted  up  from  the 


138  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

earth ;  all  men  are  being  drawn  unto  him.  This 
is  because  his  followers  are  the  light  of  the 
world,  and  others,  not  professed  followers,  are 
walking  and  dwelling  in  that  light.  The  estab- 
lishment of  Christian  laws  and  Christian  com- 
munities has  an  effect  beyond  the  circle 
espousing  Jesus  as  the  Christ.  The  gospel 
standard  of  life  makes  all  men  in  a  com- 
munity prize  their  reputation  more  highly. 
Jealousy  of  one's  good  name  works  well  on 
his  character.  The  otherwise  bad  man  be- 
comes a  good  citizen,  the  cheat  an  honest  man 
of  business,  the  petulant  neighbor  a  charitable 
friend,  the  unfaithful  husband  a  true  com- 
panion, and  cruel  parents  loving  fathers  and 
mothers.  But,  take  away  the  influence  which 
supports  this  morality,  and  it  crumbles.  Char- 
acter by  the  indirect  method  is  better  by  far 
than  none,  but  it  cannot  stand  when  the 
primary  disappears.  As  well  might  the  statue, 
after  standing  securely  on  its  pedestal  for 
twenty-five  years,  claim  the  ability  to  maintain 
its  position  without  the  presence  and  support 
of  the  base. 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  139 

Men  walk  the  streets  obedient  to  law  who 
would  be  murderers  were  it  not  for  the  Chris- 
tian forces  upholding  them.  Men  with  repu- 
tation to  sustain  would  crack  the  safe  in  the 
bank  were  it  not  for  the  Bible  light  which  en- 
couraged them  to  cultivate  a  good  name.  Men 
with  passion  firing  their  natures  would  render 
any  woman  unsafe  were  it  not  for  the  self- 
control  which  has  been  developed  by  the  aid 
of  Christian  conduct  regulated  by  the  Bible. 

Jesus  Christ  is  drawing  all  men  unto  him ; 
but  he  does  it  chiefly  through  the  medium  of 
the  Bible.  In  its  absence,  direct  divine  influ- 
ence may  be  turned  about  and  men  plunge  into 
wildest  fanaticism.  The  Bible  is  the  final 
authority.  Human  propensions  and  passions 
misinterpret  direct  revelation  to  their  own  in- 
dulgence. The  Bible  keeps  its  devotees  in  line 
directly,  and  others  indirectly  through  those 
devotees. 

Suppose  the  Bible  were  blotted  out,  as  one 
suggests.  Could  we  not  move  right  on,  suffer- 
ing no  inconvenience,  and  observing  no  dis- 
turbance  on   the    seismograph   of   character? 


140  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

Dr.  W.  J.  Dawson  answers  the  query  by  say- 
ing that  the  ship  swings  hither  and  thither 
in  the  trough  of  the  sea,  is  drifted  by  the  tide, 
or  founders  in  the  tempest — when  the  fires  of 
the  engine  are  out.  Were  Sirius,  the  dog  star, 
to  be  blotted  out,  no  one  in  this  generation 
would  miss  its  light ;  but  finally  it  would 
become  dark  and  its  history  would  be  written. 
Character  cannot  persevere  without  constant 
retouching  by  the  Bible,  that  sharp  tool  in  the 
hand  of  the  individual  man.  the  character- 
maker.  The  words  of  James  Russell  Lowell,  in 
response  to  an  implied  challenge  in  the  preced- 
ing speech  of  an  infidel,  are  in  such  harmony 
with  the  foregoing  that  they  are  given  a  place 
here: 

"I  fear  that,  when  we  indulged  ourselves 
in  the  amusement  of  going  without  religion, 
we  are  not,  perhaps,  aware  how  much  we  are 
sustained  at  present  by  an  enormous  mass  all 
about  us  of  religious  feeling  and  religious  con- 
viction, so  that,  whenever  it  may  be  safe  for 
us  to  think,  for  us  who  have  had  great  advan- 
tages, and  have  been  brought  up  in  such  a 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  141 

way  that  a  certain  moral  direction  has  been 
given  to  our  character,  I  do  not  know  what 
would  become  of  the  less  favored  classes  of 
mankind  if  they  undertook  to  play  the  same 
game. 

"Whatever  defects  and  imperfections  may 
attach  to  a  few  points  of  the  doctrinal  system 
of  Calvin — the  bulk  of  which  is  simply  what 
all  Christians  believe — it  will  be  found  that 
Calvinism,  or  any  other  ism  that  claims  an 
open  Bible  and  proclaims  a  crucified  and  risen 
Christ,  is  infinitely  preferable  to  any  form 
of  polite  and  polished  skepticism  which  gath- 
ers as  its  votaries  the  degenerate  sons  of  heroic 
ancestors,  who,  having  been  trained  in  society 
and  educated  in  schools,  the  foundations  of 
which  were  laid  by  men  of  faith  and  piety, 
now  turn  and  kick  down  the  ladder  by  which 
they  have  climbed,  and  persuade  men  to  live 
without  God  and  leave  them  to  die  without 
hope. 

"The  worst  kind  of  religion  is  no  religion 
at  all,  and  these  men  living  in  ease  and  luxury, 
indulging    themselves    in    the    amusement    of 


142  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

going  without  religion,  may  be  thankful  that 
they  live  in  lands  where  the  gospel  they  neg- 
lect has  tamed  the  beastliness  and  ferocity  of 
the  men  who,  but  for  Christianity,  might  long 
ago  have  eaten  their  carcasses  like  the  South 
Sea  Islanders,  or  cut  off  their  heads  and 
tanned  their  hides  like  the  monsters  of  the 
French  Revolution. 

"When  the  microscopic  search  of  skepticism, 
which  has  hunted  the  heavens  and  sounded  the 
seas  to  disprove  the  existence  of  a  Creator, 
has  turned  its  attention  to  human  society,  and 
has  found  a  place  on  this  planet  ten  miles 
square  where  a  decent  man  can  live  in  decency, 
comfort,  and  security,  supporting  and  educat- 
ing his  children  unspoiled  and  unpolluted;  a 
place  where  age  is  reverenced,  infancy  pro- 
tected, manhood  respected,  womanhood  hon- 
ored, and  human  life  held  in  due  regard;  when 
skeptics  can  find  such  a  place  ten  miles  square 
on  this  globe,  where  the  gospel  of  Christ  has 
not  gone  and  cleared  the  way,  and  laid  the 
foundation  and  made  decency  and  security 
possible,  it  will  then  be  in  order  for  the  skep- 


The  Sword  Unsheathed  143 

tical  literati  to  move  thither  and  there  venti- 
late their  views.  But,  so  long  as  these  very 
men  are  dependent  upon  the  religion  they 
discard  for  every  privilege  they  enjoy,  they 
may  well  hesitate  a  little  before  they  seek  to 
rob  the  Christian  of  his  hope  and  humanity 
of  its  Savior,  who  alone  has  given  to  man 
that  hope  of  life  eternal  which  makes  life 
tolerable  and  society  possible,  and  robs  death 
of  its  terrors  and  the  grave  of  its  gloom." 

Not  only  is  the  Bible  the  chief  instrument 
in  the  making  of  character,  but  it  is  utterly 
impossible  to  construct  a  strong  character 
without  it.  Whether  one  directs  his  search 
toward  one  man,  a  family,  a  community,  or 
a  state,  the  same  conclusion  is  reached. 
Whether  he  study  business,  social,  moral,  or 
spiritual  relations,  the  Bible  is  the  source  of 
strength  and  the  arbiter  of  all  disputes. 
Whether  one  regard  character  as  condition  or 
character  as  conduct,  the  same  conclusion  is 
unavoidable.  In  the  words  of  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson, whom  no  one  will  accuse  of  being  prej- 
udiced in  favor  of  divine  truth,  "The  studious 


144  The  Sword  Unsheathed 

perusal  of  the  Sacred  Volume  will  make  bet- 
ter citizens,  better  fathers,  and  better  hus- 
bands." 

Approved  character  is  a  passport  to  life — 
is  life.  "These  are  written,"  says  John,  refer- 
ring to  the  recounted  miracles  of  Jesus,  "that 
ye  might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God :  and  that  believing  ye  might  have 
life  through  his  name." 


1^878.5  .P55  ^^^ 


